SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Getting ready to finish up a successful first season under head coach Dan O'Brien and his staff, Santa Clara baseball had three players named to the West Coast Conference All-Academic team, the conference announced Friday. Senior Paul Twining, junior Brock Simon and sophomore Zach Looney were all honored for the first time.
Santa Clara will celebrate senior weekend with three games vs. LMU at Schott Stadium. Fri., May 25 the Broncos will play at 6 p.m. and on Sat., May 26 the game will start at 1 p.m. On Sun., May 27 Santa Clara will hold a pregame ceremony for the five seniors and their families before wrapping-up the season with a 1 p.m. game.
"I could not be more proud of those three guys for getting it done in the classroom, especially during a tremendously rigorous college baseball season," said O'Brien. "Sometimes these awards come and go without people truly understanding what an impressive accomplishment it is. I'm just very proud of the ball players in our program, especially those three."
A Mechanical Engineering major with a 3.48 GPA, Twining has appeared in a team-high 31 games in 2012. He has pitched a total of 47.2 innings while allowing just 45 hits. He has struck out 40 batters, good for second on the team, and walked 14. He leads the team in wins with a record of 6-6 and also leads in ERA with a mark of 3.78.
Simon has 3.40 GPA in Finance as a junior. He has made eight starts and appeared in 10 games while posting a 2-2 record with a 4.97 ERA. In 50.2 innings, Simon has struck out 27 and walked 17.
In his first year of eligibility, Looney has a 3.43 GPA as a Civil Engineering major. In 28 games, including 19 starts, Looney is hitting .246 (16-65) while scoring eight runs and collection eight RBI. His on-base percentage sits at a sold .351 thanks to eight walks and three hit-by-pitch.
To read the WCC's official release, click here. The full list of honorees is below.
2012 West Coast Conference Baseball All-Academic Team
| Zach Looney | SCU | So. | 3.43 | Civil Engineering |
| Brock Simon | SCU | Jr. | 3.40 | Finance |
| Paul Twining | SCU | Sr. | 3.48 | Mechanical Engineering |
| Abe Bobb | USF | RS-So. | 3.91 | Business Administration |
| Kris Bryant | USD | So. | 3.34 | Undeclared |
| Keeler Brynteson | POR | Sr. | 3.90 | Management Communication |
| Zac Fujimoto | LMU | Jr. | 3.41 | Entrepreneurship |
| Maxx Garrett | GON | Sr. | 3.54 | Sports Management |
| Marco Gonzalez | GON | So. | 3.34 | Sports Management |
| Aaron Griffin | LMU | Jr. | 3.32 | Electrical Engineering |
| Wes Guenther | BYU | Sr. | 3.86 | Exercise Science |
| Alex Guthrie | LMU | Sr. | 3.25 | Business Administration |
| Austin Hall | BYU | Sr. | 3.29 | Exercise Science |
| Andy Hunter | GON | Sr. | 3.48 | Mechanical Engineering |
| Brenden Kalfus | SMC | Jr. | 3.41 | Kinesiology |
| Kyle Kraus | POR | Sr. | 3.27 | Marketing and Management |
| Adam Law | BYU | So. | 3.33 | Undeclared |
| Brett Lopez | BYU | So. | 3.30 | Exercise Science |
| Jason Mahood | USF | RS-Jr. | 3.81 | Media Studies |
| Cole Norton | SMC | Jr. | 3.36 | Business Administration |
| David Parry | BYU | Sr. | 3.79 | Professional Accounting |
| Dillon Robinson | BYU | So. | 3.37 | Pre-Management Core |
| Chet Thompson | POR | So. | 3.62 | Mathematics |
| Elliot Waterman | USF | Jr. | 3.39 | Business Administration |
| Kyle Zimmer | USF | Jr. | 3.72 | Business Administration |
Honorable Mention: Adam Miller, BYU