May 13, 2014
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -
San Diego State sophomore Danielle O'Toole (Upland, Calif.) has been named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Year, while Kathy Van Wyk was chosen as the MW Coach of the Year, the league announced today. Freshman Jaylene Ignacio (Oceanside/El Camino HS) and senior Patrice Jackson (Kansas City, Mo.) joined O'Toole on the MW all-conference first team, while seniors Dominique Dinner (Monterey, Calif.) and Katie Mathis (Grass Valley, Calif.) were picked to the league's second team.
The five all-conference selections for the MW champion Aztecs tied co-MW runner-up Fresno State for the most in the league. The awards, which are voted on by the league's nine coaches, are based on conference stats only. This was the first year the MW separated first and second team.
SDSU has now won the MW Pitcher of the Year nine times in the 15-year history of the league, while Van Wyk earned her fifth MW Coach-of-the-Year award.
In conference play, O'Toole was 13-5 with a 2.15 ERA over 117 innings, striking out 72 with a combined five shutouts (three solo). The left-hander led the league in MW games in ERA, wins and win percentage (.722), and tied for the lead in appearances (21). She was also second in innings and strikeouts, tied for second in games started (16) and third in opposing batting average (.248). O'Toole, who was named the MW Pitcher of the Week for the fifth time yesterday (nobody else in the league had more than one), was the 2013 MW Freshman of the Year and an all-league selection.
Overall, O'Toole is 30-8 with a 1.66 ERA and a save over 240 innings. She has started 33 of the team's 56 games, completing 25 of them with 10 total shutouts (seven solo, three combined). O'Toole, who has pitched in 45 of the team's 56 games, has 184 strikeouts against just 39 walks, holding the opposition to a .229 average. O'Toole's 30 wins are tied for third in the country. She's also 18th in walks allowed per seven innings (1.14) and 36th in ERA (1.66).
Van Wyk, the all-time winningest coach in program history who has led San Diego State to all 10 of its NCAA tournament appearances and all seven MW titles, was named the coach of the year for the fifth time (also 2002, 2006, 2008 and 2013). Van Wyk helped the Aztecs win their final four games of the regular season en route to winning the title and automatic bid into the NCAA tournament with a 16-8 conference record.
For her career, Wan Wyk is 616-411-1 (.600) overall and 173-94 (.648) in MW games. She has coached seven All-Americans, 26 NFCA all-West Region selections, 64 all-conference selections, nine MW Pitchers of the Year, seven MW Freshmen of the Year, two MW Players of the Year and 114 conference player/pitcher of the week winners.
Ignacio batted .322 (19-for-59) with five homers, 17 RBIs, 16 runs and four doubles in league action, while owning a .644 slugging percentage. Her five home runs tied for the fourth most in league-only games, while her .644 slugging mark was eighth. Overall, Ignacio is hitting .287 with five homers, 21 RBIs and 21 runs.
Jackson, who was the MW Player of the Year in 2013 and is now a three-time all-league selection, batted .339 (21-for-62) in conference play with five home runs, 16 RBIs, 14 runs and 25 walks, posting an impressive .533 on-base percentage and a .645 slugging percentage. In conference games, Jackson led the league in walks, was second in on-base percentage, tied for fourth in home runs and seventh in slugging percentage. In all games, Jackson is batting .354 with 16 homers, 48 RBIs, 35 runs, school-record 59 walks, a school-record .543 on-base percentage and a .764 slugging mark. Jackson's 59 walks lead the country, while her .543 on-base mark is 12th.
Dinner, meanwhile, led SDSU with a .391 batting average (25-for-64) in league-only games and ranked ninth in the league. She also added a homer, 15 RBIs, 10 runs and six stolen bases. Overall, Dinner is batting .333 with a home run, 26 RBIs, 21 runs and 21 stolen bases.
Mathis hit .355 (27-for-76) with 10 RBIs, 16 runs, 12 walks and seven stolen bases in conference play. Overall, Mathis has batted .335 with 19 RBIs, 31 runs and 13 stolen bases, while committing just three errors in 183 chances for a .984 fielding percentage at second base.
San Diego State (39-17) will play No. 13/13 Michigan (42-12) at 12:30 p.m. PT Friday in Tempe, Ariz., on the campus of No. 4/4 Arizona State (44-10-1), the tournament's No. 9 overall seed. Dartmouth (31-17) is the other team in the double-elimination regional. The entire NCAA Tempe Regional will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
2014 Mountain West Awards
Player of the Year: Garie Blando (UNLV)
Pitcher of the Year: Danielle O'Toole (San Diego State)
Defensive Player of the Year: Brenna Moss (Fresno State)
Freshman of the Year: Victoria Saucedo (Utah State)
Coach of the Year: Kathy Van Wyk (San Diego State)
All-Conference First Team (SDSU selections only)
Jaylene Ignacio (San Diego State)
Patrice Jackson (San Diego State)
Danielle O'Toole (San Diego State)
All-Conference Second Team (SDSU selections only)
Dominique Dinner (San Diego State)
Katie Mathis (San Diego State)