May 29, 2008

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The sixth-ranked University of San Diego baseball team had three players named Louisville Slugger All-Americans. Junior left-hander Brian Matusz takes home first-team honors as a pitcher, while junior Josh Romanski was named third-team All-American as a utility player and sophomore closer AJ Griffin was named third-team All-American as a closer.

Matusz, who was also the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the year, takes home his second consecutive first-team All-American honor. The junior continued his assault on the record book, striking out a team-best 131 batters on the year and moving into second place all-time on the USD career strikeouts list with 387. The Cave Creek, Ariz. native was nothing short of dominant during the season as he posted a minuscule 1.88 ERA and bolsters an 11-2 overall record.

Romanski takes home his second All-American accolade as well as he posted an overall record of 9-0 with a 3.76 ERA on the mound and hit .316 with 65 hits, 14 doubles, one triple, six home runs and 46 RBI at the plate. Romanski tossed his first collegiate no-hitter back on March 24 against Harvard, in which he faced one batter above the minimum and recorded eight strikeouts in the game as the highlight of the season.

Griffin takes home his first All-American accolade as he posted an overall record of 1-1 with a 1.96 ERA and tied the school record for single-season saves with 13. With the 13 saves, Griffin became the all-time leader in career saves at USD with 24.

The Toreros will return to action on Friday at 2 p.m. as they open play in the Long Beach Region al against third-seeded California at Blair Field.