July 6, 2010
Fullerton, Calif. - Seven Cal State Fullerton baseball players were named All-Americans by various media outlets and organizations over the past few weeks, bringing the program's total to 89 total Div. I All-American players since 1975.
For the second straight season, and third overall, Cal State Fullerton baseball produced a school record seven All-Americans according to various media outlets and organizations that cover college baseball.
Including the 2010 class the Titans have now produced at least one All-American in each of the last 13 years. More impressively, the Titans have produced at least one All-American pitcher in each of those 13 seasons - by far the best mark in the country.
Gary Brown (Jr., CF, Diamond Bar, Calif.)
Season Line: .438, 63 R, 92 H, 20 2B, 8 3B, 6 HR, 41 RBI, 32 SB, SLG .695
Brown was named an All-Ameircan by Baseball America (2nd team), Rivals.com (1st team), Collegiate Baseball (1st team), the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (1st team) and the American Baseball Coaches Association (1st team).
The first round draft pick (San Francisco) and Big West Conference Player of the Year was on pace for national player of the year accolades before breaking his middle finger on his glove hand stealing a base on May 16 - limiting him to a couple of pinch-running assignments at the Los Angeles Super Regional over the final 16 games of the year.
The speedy centerfielder set the single-season school record in batting average by hitting at a .438 clip and became the first Titan (32 steals) to steal more than 30 bases in a season since Jeff Furgeson (30) and Dante Powell (48) did it in 1994. His .438 batting average ranked 8th in the nation in 2010.
Brown was also a Freshman All-American in 2008 (Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball).
In addition to his ABCA All-American honor, Brown was also named a first-team West Region and Rawling Gold Glove teams.
Christian Colon (Jr., SS, Corona, Calif.)
Season Line: .358, 73 R, 96 H, 17 HR, 68 RBI, 13 SB, SLG .631
Arguably the best shortstop to go through the Cal State Fullerton program, Colon was named an All-American by Baseball America (1st team), Rivals.com (1st team), and the ABCA (1st team), and finished as on of three finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award given to the nation's best shortstops by the College Baseball Foundation.
He became the Titans 11th first-round draft pick when he was selected by the Kansas City Royals as the fourth overall pick (later joined by Brown in the first round). He not only solidified the Titans' defense with his extraordinary play up the middle, but he became just the first Titan since 1999 (Ryan Owens) to hit more than 16 home runs in a season. His 17 homers led the Big West and secured him his first career first team all-league honor.
Colon, along with Brown and Nick Ramirez, became the first trio of Titans since 1999 to have 90-plus hits each in a season.
In addition, Colon was named to the ABCA's West Region first team.
Colon is a three-time All-American.
Nick Ramirez (So., 1B/LHP, Anaheim, Calif.)
Season Line (hitting): .346, 90 H, 28 2B, 16 HR, 75 RBI, .646 SLG, 6 SF, 6 SB
Season Line (pitching): 1-3, 3.50 ERA, 27 APP, 11 SV, 43.2 IP, 38 K, 8 BB, .252 B/AVG
One of three finalists for the inaugural John Olerud Two-Way Player Award, Ramirez earned All-American status from Rivals.com (1st team), Collegiate Baseball (2nd team), and the NCBWA (3rd team) as a utility player.
The left-handed hitter proved himself as a valuable commodity not only at the plate, but on the mound as well. Ramirez finished third in the Big West in hits, second in home runs and led the league in both doubles and RBI. He also saved a league-leading 11 games on the mound while striking out nearly five batters to every walk he issued. For that, he was named to the Big West's all-conference first team for the second year in a row.
His 11 saves tied him with Mark Kotsay (1995) and Adam Jorgenson (2008) for the seventh-most saves in a single season by any Titan hurler. His 28 doubles rank tied for second all-time (with Shane Costa, 2003) in both Cal State Fullerton and Big West Conference history for a single season performance and was 7th best in the nation in 2010.
Ramirez was also a Freshman All-American in 2009 (Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball). He has accepted an invitation by USA Baseball and is participating in Team USA trials in Cary, North Carolina.
Noe Ramirez (So., RHP, Alhambra, Calif.)
Season Line: 12-1, 2.54 ERA, 16 APP, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 2 CBO, 106.1 IP, 119 K, 19 BB, .229 B/AVG
Noe Ramirez was named an All-American by Baseball America (3rd team), Collegiate Baseball (2nd team), and the ABCA (2nd team).
The right-hander was putting up numbers that had him in contention for national pitcher of the year-honors, but then suffered a freak break of the wrist in a freak fall at practice on Apr. 14 that kept him off the hill for nearly a month.
The right-hander returned to win 7 more games without a loss and was named to the All-Big West first team for the first time in his career and earn himself an invitation to try out for Team USA this summer.
Ramirez finished second in the Big West in ERA, third in opponent's batting average, second in innings pitched, while leading the league in both strikeouts and victories (tied with Daniel Renken).
Ramirez was also named to the ABCA's All-West Region First Team.
Daniel Renken (Jr., RHP, Cypress, Calif.)
Season Line: 12-2, 3.96 ERA, 20 APP, 104.2 IP, 91 K, 40 BB, .26 B/AVG
For the third straight season, Renken was awarded All-American status - this year by Collegiate Baseball (3rd team).
Despite a shaky start to the 2010 campaign, Renken turned it around and eventually won a Big West- leading 12 games (tied with Noe Ramirez), including all 8 of his Big West Conference starts. No pitcher since Fullerton's Jason Windsor in 2004 had accomplished the feat of sweeping every league opponent.
Renken also finished among the league leaders in opponent's batting average (6th), innings pitched (4th), strikeouts (3rd), and games started (1st) and notched his second career All-Big West First Team honor.
In three seasons on the Titans' pitching staff, Renken has now moved into Fullerton all-time Top 10 in wins (10th, 28), starts (5th, 48), strikeouts (9th, 274) and innings pitched (10th, 309.1).
Carlos Lopez (R-Fr., DH/OF, Northridge, Calif.)
Season Line: .354, 84 H, 16 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 51 RBI, 22 BB, 23 K
The Titans' designated hitter earned Freshman All-American status by Collegiate Baseball after posing solid numbers at the teams' No. 3 hitter for a majority of the season.
For much of the 2010 season and up to the Super Regional, Lopez challenged Mark Kotsay's freshman batting average (.372) record before a strong UCLA pitching staff quieted his bat for three games in Los Angeles. He finished the season 2 hits, 1 double and 3 RBI short of setting other Cal State Fullerton freshman marks and earned his way onto the the All-Big West Conference's second team.
Lopez was among the Big West leaders in hits (5th), RBI (8th), and total bases (9th).
The rookie was also a second-team All-West Region honoree.
Because of his age as a redshirt freshman, Lopez was draft eligible, and was selected in the 37th round by the Detroit Tigers.
Dylan Floro (Fr., RHP, Merced, Calif.)
Season Line: 7-2, 3.26 ERA, 2 SV, 27 APP, 8 GS, 2 CG, 2 SHO, 91.0 IP, 69 K, 11 BB, .281 B/AVG
The Big West Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year also notched Freshman All-American honors with Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America (2nd team) after a well-rounded season as both a reliever and a starter.
Before his Apr. 30 start against Pacific, the right-hander worked exclusively out of the bullpen and had a pair of wins and saves to his credit. Going into the postseason, he had made 5 starts and picked up 5 more victories including two complete-game shutouts, tying Tyler Pill's freshman record (2009). He didn't lose until the Titans' first game of the Fullerton Regional against Minnesota, when he worked 8 innings and gave up just 3 runs.
The rookie wound up in the Big West's Top 10s in ERA (4th), batting average against (9th), wins (t-9th), appearances (t-3rd) and fewest walks allowed (1st). He ranked 6th in the nation with just over 1 walk per nine innings (1.09).
Following the conclusion of the season, Floro accepted an invitation to participate in the Team USA trials currently underway in Cary, North Carolina.
&\#149;&\#149;&\#149;
Baseball America has yet to release its Freshman All-American Team. Updates to this release will be made at fullertontitans.com should any Titans earn recognition.