No first-team Bulls

[Reliabull]

On the All-Big East team.

Otero named to second team, Butler and Diaz to the third team.

[Brad]

Courtesy USF

USF BASEBALL

Three Bulls Earn BIG EAST Baseball Accolades

QUEENS, N.Y. (May 21, 2007) – Three University of South Florida baseball players earned BIG EAST All-Conference accolades this season, as announced by the league Monday night at the Crowne Plaza LaGuardia in Queens, N.Y. Senior right handed pitcher Danny Otero garnered second team honors while junior shortstop Walter Diaz and junior second baseman were selected to the third team.  

Otero, a senior right handed pitcher, led the team with 82 strikeouts in 111.2 innings. The transfer from Duke won a team-high (tie) eight games in 15 starts, tossing four complete games and posting one shut out. Otero walked just 22 batters this season. A back-to-back BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week, Otero also earned College Baseball Foundation's National Honor Roll Player of the Week award once.  

Diaz led the Bulls with a .348 batting average this season, collecting 77 hits, 13 of which were extra-base shots. The junior shortstop drove in 29 RBI and collected 93 total bases in his first season as a Bull. Diaz stole a team-high 14 bases, posted a .421 slugging percentage and registered a .448 on base percentage. Diaz, who was on both the **** Howser Trophy and Brooks Wallace Award watch lists, was selected to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice this season, and was on the College Baseball Foundation's National Honor Roll Player of the Week list once. On Feb. 16, Diaz set the school record for hits in a game, when he went 5-of-6 in the Bulls' 10-9 victory at Jacksonville. A month later, Diaz went on a hitting tear, posting a 24-game hit streak, the longest in USF history since the 2000 season.  

Butler's .337 batting average was second on the team this season, along with his 67 hits, 11 doubles and 43 RBI. He also recorded 33 runs, one home run and 81 total bases in his junior campaign at USF. This season Butler earned a BIG EAST Player of the Week award and a College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll Player of the Week accolade. In conference-only games, the Key West, Fla., native was eighth in both hits (36) and RBI (22).  

The Bulls open 2007 BIG EAST Baseball Championship play on Tuesday, May 22 when USF faces off with Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn. Listen to all of the Bulls' tournament games live on USF's Press Pass, as Garrett Walvoord calls the play-by-play.

[JoeB]

Diaz had the best shot, but he had the misfortune of playing the same position as Rutgers' Todd Frazier.