July 5, 2007

DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis third baseman Daniel Descalso was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-West Region First Team, it was announced Thursday. Descalso becomes the first Aggie baseball player to ever garner NCAA Division I all-region honors.

The West Region encompasses 34 Division I schools whose coaches nominate players and vote for first and second teams. Players named to the first team in all eight regions then became nominees for All-America recognition. Descalso was not honored as an All-American when the teams were announced last week.

Descalso, who became the highest Aggie selected in the Major League Baseball draft when he was taken in the third round by the St. Louis Cardinals last month, also becomes the first UC Davis baseball player since 2004 to earn all-region honors. Descalso put up some of the best single season numbers in the history of the program during his final campaign with the Aggies as his .397 batting average, 92 hits and 22 doubles are the second-most on each respective list. Descalso also supplied team-leading totals of 44 RBI's, 132 total bases, a .569 slugging percentage and 35 walks.

This marks the second postseason award for Descalso, as he earned NCAA Division I All-Independent First Team accolades earlier last month.

The UC Davis baseball team begins its first season as an official Big West member during the upcoming year.