POST-SEASON AWARDS: Three Bruins Earn Slew of All-America, All-Region Honors

Matt Wyckoff

Bo Thunell

Chad Jones

Rawlings / ABCA All-America & All-Region Teams
D3baseball.com All-America Teams

NEWBERG, Ore. - A trio of George Fox University players - left fielder Matt Wyckoff, second baseman Bo Thunell, and relief pitcher Chad Jones - have collected six NCAA Division III All-America and All-West Region honors over the last couple of days by two national organizations, highlighting another record-setting baseball season for the Bruins in 2009.

Wyckoff, a senior from Olympia, Wash., has been named to the Rawlings / American Baseball Coaches Association All-America First Team, the D3baseball.com All-America Second Team, and the Rawlings / ABCA All-West Region First Team.  Thunell, a junior from Canyon City, Ore., has been named to the Rawlings / ABCA All-America Second Team and All-West Region First Team.  Jones, a junior from McMinnville, Ore., via Chemeketa Community College, has been named to the Rawlings / ABCA All-West Region Third Team.

Wyckoff, the Northwest Conference Player of the Year, led the Bruins with a .447 batting average, 188 at bats, a school-record 84 hits, 11 home runs, 71 RBIs, 139 total bases, a .739 slugging percentage, a .511 on base percentage, 6 sacrifice flies, and was second with 68 runs, 18 doubles, 2 triples, 27 walks, and 20 stolen bases.  He hit in 28 straight games at one stretch, one short of the Bruins' record.  He had the 2nd-most runs and RBIs in Bruin history, 5th-best batting average and 5th-most at bats, and 8th-most doubles and home runs.

In NCAA national statistics, Wyckoff ranked 5th in runs, hits, RBIs, and total bases, 19th in sacrifice flies, 35th in doubles, and 39th in batting average.  In the conference, he was 1st in hits, total bases, total plate appearances, and at bats,2nd in batting, runs, and doubles, 3rd in slugging, home runs, sacrifice flies, and stolen bases, 4th in triples and walks, and 5th in on base percentage.

In George Fox career stats, Wyckoff ranks 2nd in doubles (48) and sacrifice flies (11), 5th in batting (.394) and RBIs (143), 6th in total bases (313), 7th in slugging (.632), 8th in hits (195), home runs (20) and stolen bases (38), 9th in runs (149), and 10th in on base percentage (.463).  He was a Second Team All-NWC selection last year as a first baseman. 

Thunell, a First Team All-Conference selection, topped the team with 19 doubles while ranking second with a .434 batting average, 58 RBIs, 115 total bases, a .723 slugging percentage, a .497 on base percentage, and third with 47 runs, 69 hits, 9 home runs, and 4 sacrifice flies.  Defensively, he made only one error for a .994 fielding average.  He tied the Bruins' record for doubles in a game with 3 at Pacific.  He had the 7th-most doubles, 8th-most RBIs, and 10th-best batting average in Bruin history.

In NCAA national statistics, Thunell ranked 25th in doubles and 34th in RBIs.  In the conference, he was 1st in doubles, 2nd in RBIs and total bases, 3rd in hits, 4th in slugging, total plate appearances, and at bats, 5th in batting, runs, home runs, and fielding double plays, and 6th in on base percentage and assists.

On the George Fox career lists, Thunell is the all-time leader in sacrifice flies (12), and ranks 4th in hit by pitches (22), 6th in RBIs (141), 7th in doubles (44), 8th in home runs (20), total bases (289), and slugging (.626), and 9th in hits (183).  He was a Third Team ABCA All-American, First Team All-West Region, and First Team All-NWC pick at shortstop in 2006, and Second Team All-NWC as a third baseman in 2007. 

Jones, a First Team All-NWC pick, posted an unprecedented feat when he led the Bruins in both wins while going 8-2 and saves with a school-record 7, the latter already tied for 2nd on the all-time George Fox saves chart.  He also led the team with a 2.17 earned run average, appearances with a school-record 25, and strikeouts with 42 while walking only 14 in 49.2 innings.  He had the 8th-best ERA in Bruin history.   

In NCAA national statistics, Jones ranked 15th in saves, 26th in earned run average, and 36th in wins.  In the conference, he was 1st in ERA, saves, appearances, games finished (18), and games in relief (25), 2nd in wins, 4th in opponents' batting average (.251), and 7th in strikeouts. 

Wyckoff, Thunell, and Jones were key components on a George Fox team that went 36-11 for its 14th straight winning record, tied for the Northwest Conference championship with Pacific Lutheran University at 27-5, and finished second in the West Regional Tournament, one win short of the Bruins' second trip to the D-III World Series.  It was the Bruins' 5th-straight NCAA appearance and 8th in the last 10 years.  The Bruins were 33-9 in the regular season, setting a new record for wins, and finished with the second-most overall wins in history (the 2004 national championship team was 40-10 after going 9-1 in the post-season).  George Fox was ranked 16th in the final regular-season D3baseball.com poll and 20th in the ABCA / Collegiate Baseball poll.

Along the way, the Bruins posted the 2nd-highest batting average in team history and ranked 3rd nationally (.367), set a new single-season record for hits (589) which was 5th in the nation, and ranked 1st in the NCAA in sacrifice flies (40), 4th in double plays (51), 5th in fielding average (.969), 8th in sacrifice bunts (42), and 9th in runs (449) and slugging (.546). 

Drew Hedman of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Shawn Gilblair of Eastern Connecticut State University were Co-National Players of the Year as chosen by the ABCA. Hedman was named National Hitter of the Year and Jeremiah Bayer of Trinity College (Conn.) the National Pitcher of the Year by D3baseball.com.