SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – After capturing the 2023 West Coast Conference Baseball Regular Season title, LMU claimed four of the five major individual awards and placed four on the 2023 All-WCC first and second teams as announced by the league office on Tuesday. The Lions (29-22, 21-6 WCC) enter this week's WCC Baseball Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
LMU won four major individual honors, led by WCC Pitcher of the Year Diego Barrera, Defensive Player of the Year Cole Roberts, Freshman of the Year Khadim Diaw and Nathan Choate was selected by his peers as WCC Coach of the Year. Christian Almanza from Saint Mary's and BYU's Austin Deming were named the WCC Co-Players of the Year.
All five individual awards – along with the All-West Coast Conference First, Second and Freshman Teams – were voted on solely by the league’s 10 head coaches.
Almanza notched a team-best .612 slugging percentage to lead the Gaels into the WCC Tournament. He belted 15 home runs, which tied for fourth in the league. Deming concluded the 2023 campaign on a tear for BYU. The senior who was recently named an NCBWA Dick Howser Award semifinalist paced the WCC in batting average (.418), home runs (19) and RBI (68).
Barrera became the seventh LMU pitcher to win WCC Pitcher of the Year honors. He led the WCC in wins (8) and finished second in ERA (2.33) and strikeouts (88). Barrera ranks 12th in the nation in ERA.
Barrera's head coach Choate has the Lions atop the WCC standings at the conclusion of the regular season. LMU picked up 16 road wins in 2023 and won eight of its nine Conference series. Strong in non-conference play, as well, LMU beat then-No. 7 Vanderbilt for its biggest non-conference win of the campaign, and the Lions also beat then-No. 15 Oklahoma State.
Diaw claimed Freshman of the Year honors after posting a .322 batting average, second on the team. He also belted a team-high eight home runs and his slugging percentage of .515 was also good for second among the Lions. Diaw enjoyed a 15-game hitting streak that was snapped in the regular season finale. During that hitting streak, he produced nine multi-hit performances.
Roberts was stellar defensively all year for LMU. He boasted a .985 fielding percentage, collecting 71 putouts with only three errors. He contributed to 26 LMU double plays. .
Seven teams placed at least one student-athlete on the 13-member All-WCC first team, headlined by four picks from Portland.
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2023 Baseball All-Conference Awards
Coach of the Year – Nathan Choate, LMU
Co-Player of the Year – Christian Almanza, Saint Mary’s
Co-Player of the Year – Austin Deming, BYU
Pitcher of the Year – Diego Barrera, LMU
Freshman of the Year – Khadim Diaw, LMU
Defensive Player of the Year – Cole Roberts, LMU
All-Conference First Team
Christian Almanza, Saint Mary’s
Diego Baqueiro, LMU
Diego Barrera, LMU
Nick Brink, Portland
Mario DeMera, San Francisco
Austin Deming, BYU
Jake Holcroft, Portland
Brian Kalmer, Gonzaga
Nich Klemp, Portland
Connor Linchey, Saint Mary’s
Ben Nemivant, Pacific
Angelo Peraza, San Diego
Evan Scavotto, Portland
Zach Toglia, Portland
All-Conference Second Team
Jack Basseer, Pepperdine
Khadim Diaw, LMU
Skylar Hales, Santa Clara
Blake Hammond, Santa Clara
Ryan Johnson, Pepperdine
Zach Kirby, LMU
Michael O’Hara, Santa Clara
John Peck, Pepperdine
Kevin Sim, San Diego
Austin Smith, San Diego
Cooper Vest, BYU
Harris Williams III, San Francisco
Honorable Mention
Peter Allegro, Portland
Ariel Armas, San Diego
Merrick Baldo, LMU
Jonjon Berring, Santa Clara
Coleman Brigman, Santa Clara
Justin DeCriscio, San Diego
Cole Gambill, BYU
Briley Knight, Portland
Jeremy Lea, Pacific
Boston Mabeus, BYU
Efrain Manzo, Santa Clara
Ben Patacsil, Portland
Ryan Robinson, San Diego
Jacob Rutherford, Gonzaga
Ryan Sanders, Saint Mary’s
August Souza, Santa Clara
Sam Stem, Gonzaga
Ryan Taurek, Saint Mary’s
Shane Telfer, Pepperdine
All-Freshman Team
Luke Anderson, BYU
Gabriel Barrett, San Francisco
Jack Basseer, Pepperdine
John Damozonio, Saint Mary’s
Nathan DeSchryver, Gonzaga
Thomas Ferroggiaro, Santa Clara
Khadim Diaw, LMU
Jack Gurevitch, San Diego
Jared Mettam, Saint Mary’s
Sam Stem, Gonzaga