June 5, 2001
San Diego State - Seven members of the 2001 San Diego State baseball team were singled out for All-Mountain West Conference honors for their play during the recently completed season.
Earning first team honors were shortstop Taber Lee, outfielder Andy Litteral, and pitchers Marcos Mendoza and Royce Ring. Second team accolades went to outfielder Sean Pierce, second baseman Carlo Cota and pitcher Rory Shortell.
Lee, a sophomore from Olympia, Wash., batted .344 and led the team in stolen bases with 24. Litteral, a senior from Temecula, Calif., hit .358 with three triples and 14 steals.
Both of the Aztecs' first-team pitchers are local products. Junior Marcos Mendoza (Grossmont HS) finished the season with a record of 7-6 and a 3.84 earned run average. His strikeouts total of 118 was the second-most ever for an SDSU pitcher. Ring (Monte Vista HS), in his second season at SDSU, was the Aztecs' closer this past season, compiling a record of 6-2 with nine saves and 45 strikeouts in 37.2 innings.
Second-team choices Sean Pierce (Covina, Calif.) and Carlo Cota (Calexico, Calif.) batted .350 and .346 respectively. Pierce led the Aztecs in home runs with six and also contributed three triples and 23 RBI. Cota led SDSU with 13 doubles and was the team's number-two RBI leader with 46. Pitcher Rory Shortell ended his sophomore campaign with a record of 6-2 and a 5.83 earned run average.
The four first-team selections were the most for SDSU since 1994 when four Aztecs were named to the All-Western Athletic Conference first squad. The total of seven all-conference picks was the most since 1974 when San Diego State placed three players on the first team and four on the second team of the All-Pacific Coast Athletic Association squad.