DALLAS – San Diego State's Matt Rudick (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch HS) continues to merit postseason acclaim after earning third-team All-America honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
A redshirt junior, Rudick collected his first career All-America certificate after garnering second-team ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region accolades on June 16. In addition, the Aztec center fielder received All-Mountain West recognition for the third straight year earlier this month.
With his selection, Rudick gives San Diego State at least one All-American in consecutive years (not including freshman All-Americans) for the first time since 2008-09 after former Aztec star Casey Schmitt earned third-team honors from Collegiate Baseball newspaper in 2020.
Now in its 23rd season, the NCBWA Division I All-America baseball squads (first, second and third teams) feature standout players from 47 schools and 19 athletic conferences. Rudick was one of only two Mountain West student-athletes to merit All-America distinction from the NCBWA, joining Air Force freshman utility Paul Skenes, who was a first-team pick.
Rudick posted a team-high .410 batting average during the 2021 campaign, which ranked fourth in the Mountain West. The SDSU center fielder also led the conference with 61 runs scored and 17 stolen bases and found himself among the conference top 10 in triples (2nd - 4), hits (5th - 73), walks (T-5th - 26), on-base percentage (6th - .484)and RBIs (T-10th - 41).
For the season, Rudick reached base in all 43 games he made a plate appearance and ranked second on the team with multiple hits in 23 outings. In addition, the Scripps Ranch High alumnus was the toughest player in the nation to strike out, fanning just nine times in 178 at-bats while finishing third and ninth in the country, respectively, with an average of 1.39 runs and 1.66 hits per game during the regular season.
Not to be outdone, Rudick crafted the Aztecs' second-longest hitting streak of the year at 14 games from April 2 to May 8, raising his batting average from .378 to .426 during that span.
In a 15-0 whitewash of New Mexico on April 3, Rudick tied his career high with five RBIs and established a personal best with four runs scored in the SDSU's 17-3 romp over San José State on May 8. He also served as a catalyst in the Aztecs' wild 21-14 comeback victory at Fresno State on April 17, logging a 3-for-5 effort at the plate with four RBIs and three runs scored.
San Diego State completed the 2021 season with a 30-16 overall record and a second-place mark of 22-14 in Mountain West. The Aztecs captured series victories in 12 of 15 weeks and were the only conference team to play all 36 games on its original MW schedule.
SDSU ranked second in the nation during the regular season with a .335 team batting average and occupied the third slot with an average of 9.1 runs scored per game. In addition, the Aztecs ranked seventh with a collective .413 on-base percentage and 13th with 420 runs scored overall.
The Scarlet and Black also scored 10 or more runs in 20 games, posting an 18-2 record in those contests.
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NCBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's only college media-related organization and was founded in 1962.
Matt Rudick Named Third-Team NCBWA All-American
