Long Beach State University Athletics
Liebel a Semifinalist for Clemens Award
5/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2008
Liebel's National Player of the Year Page
HOUSTON-- Long Beach State righthander Andrew Liebel (Pomona) was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Roger Clemens Award, given to college's baseball's top arm, the first Dirtbag semifinalist since Jered Weaver won the inaugural award in 2004.
Liebel is the third player since 2004 to be in the national mix for Player of the Year, as Evan Longoria was one of three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award in 2006.
Liebel, who enters his Friday night start at Cal Poly with 20.1 consecutive scoreless innings, joins Brian Matusz, San Diego, Scott Bittle of Mississippi, Aaron Crow of Missouri, Joshua Fields of Georgia, Scott Gorgen of UC Irvine, Chris Hernandez of Miami (Fla.), Shooter Hunt of Tulane, Mike Leake of Arizona State, and Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State.
Liebel overall ranks ninth nationally in ERA and leads the Big West in that category (1.69) as well, and in innings pitched (95.2). Liebel has pitched into the seventh inning in all 12 starts this season in 18 career starts.
Here is a capsule of the group of 10 semifinalists:
The group includes the current national leaders in wins (Crow), saves (Fields), strikeouts (Strasburg) and strikeouts per nine innings (Bittle). The national field features pitchers from eight conferences with the Big West and Southeastern conferences being represented by two candidates each.
Ole Miss' Bittle a junior right-hander from Texarkana, Tex., is 5-1 on the season with a 1.48 earned run average and seven saves. Bittle has struck out 99 batters in only 54.2 innings. His ERA also ranks fourth nationally.
Missouri's Crow, a junior righty from Wakarusa, Kan., is 11-0 with a 2.82 ERA. In addition to being the national leader in wins, his 103 strikeouts in 83 innings ranks fifth in the nation.
Georgia's Fields, a right-hander from Hull, Ga., picked up his NCAA-best 16th save Tuesday night in the Bulldogs' 3-2 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. He's also 1-1 with a 0.66 ERA, and has struck out 49 opponents in 27.1 innings.
UC Irvine's Gorgen, a junior right-hander from Concord, Calif., is 10-2 with a 1.79 ERA. That earned run average ranks 11th in the country, and his total of 101 K's in 90.1 innings ranks seventh nationally for the ninth-ranked Anteaters.
Miami's Chris Hernandez, a hometown freshman left-hander, is 9-0 with a 2.70 ERA as the top-ranked Hurricanes' Friday starter. He's the first freshman to earn a semifinal berth in the five years of balloting for the Clemens Award.
Hunt, a Tulane junior right-hander from Wyckoff, N.J., is 9-1 with a 1.97 ERA. He ranks in the top 15 nationally in wins, ERA, and striekouts (105 in 77.2 innings).
ASU's Leake, a sophomore from Fallbrook, Calif., is 8-1 with a 3.42 ERA for the fourth-ranked Sun Devils. He's struck out 86 in 92 innings.
LBSU's Liebel, a senior right-hander from Pmona, Calif., is 7-2 with a 1.69 ERA, a mark that ranks ninth in the country. Liebel has led the Dirtbags to a top 25 ranking the current NCBWA poll.
Matusz, a USD junior lefty from Cave Creek, Ariz., is 10-2 with a 2.05 ERA. His 122 strikeouts in just 88 innings (third in the country) has paced the Toreros to a top-10 national ranking.
SDSU's Strasburg, a sophomore right-hander from San Diego, Calif., is 8-1 with a 1.28 earned run average. His NCAA-best 125 strikeouts has come in only 84.1 innings.
Voters for The Roger Clemens Award are broken down into three groups. All Division 1 head baseball coaches are issued ballots, as are a selected group of writers and broadcasters who cover the college game. In addition the 16 winners of the R.E. Bob Smith Award, which was presented in Houston in 1988-2003, are asked to vote, along with the 13 finalists from the first four years of the Clemens Award.
