Long Beach State University Athletics
Photo by: Mikaella Salazar
Burns, Zeglin Earn Top Big West Honors, Lead Trio of All-Big West Selections
6/1/2023 12:01:00 PM | Baseball
Long Beach State had a trio of All-Big West honorees.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – A trio of Dirtbags earned All-Big West honors headlined by Connor Burns and Nico Zeglin earning top honors. The conference office announced the winners on Thursday.
Burns was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. He is the first player in conference history to garner the award in multiple seasons, let alone winning it back-to-back years. Starting all 55 games behind the plate for Long Beach this season, he posted career-highs in putouts and assists on his way to a .992 fielding percentage. He also threw out 15 of 32 would-be base stealers this past season, one of the best caught stealing percentages in the country.
The Chino native also enjoyed a massive breakout season at the plate and was recently named one of the 13 semifinalists for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year award. Adding to his accolades, he was also named to the All-Big West First Team as part of the trio of Dirtbags honorees.
For the Dirtbags, it is their fourth Defensive Player of the Year honor moving them into a tie for most in the conference since the award's inception back in 2011.
On the same day Zeglin earns an All-American selection, he is also awarded the Big West Pitcher of the Year. A sure-fire choice, the right-hander led the league with 94.2 innings on the mound and 117 strikeouts. He also ranked second with a 2.00 ERA and .202 opponent batting average. Of his 15 starts, he only surrendered more than three earned runs once, totaling 10 quality starts including six straight to end the season.
One of the top 10 starting pitchers in the country as chosen by D1Baseball.com, he ranked seventh in all of NCAA in ERA and strikeouts, while ranking twelfth in WHIP (0.99) and 26th in hits per nine (6.37). He was also named the National Pitcher of the Week on May 15 after a 10-strikeout complete game shutout of UC Santa Barbara. Zeglin was also an All-Big West First Team selection.
The grad transfer becomes the 12th Long Beach State hurler to win the league's top honor and second in the Valenzuela era (Johnathan Lavallee, 2021).
The third Long Beach State represented on the all-conference team was corner infield Jonathon Long. In his draft-eligible season, he put up career-highs in games (55), runs (40), hits (67), doubles (17), home runs (15), RBI (52), and slugging percentage (.600). He was one of just five hitters in the Big West to post an OPS above 1.000 to go along with leading the league in homers.
For his Dirtbags career, Long ranks second in home runs (26) and sixth in slugging percentage (.543).
Burns was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. He is the first player in conference history to garner the award in multiple seasons, let alone winning it back-to-back years. Starting all 55 games behind the plate for Long Beach this season, he posted career-highs in putouts and assists on his way to a .992 fielding percentage. He also threw out 15 of 32 would-be base stealers this past season, one of the best caught stealing percentages in the country.
The Chino native also enjoyed a massive breakout season at the plate and was recently named one of the 13 semifinalists for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year award. Adding to his accolades, he was also named to the All-Big West First Team as part of the trio of Dirtbags honorees.
For the Dirtbags, it is their fourth Defensive Player of the Year honor moving them into a tie for most in the conference since the award's inception back in 2011.
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— LBSU Dirtbags (@LBDirtbags) June 1, 2023
Burnsy becomes the FIRST in conference history to garner multiple Defensive POTY honors #skoBags pic.twitter.com/LcMsR5cZ2h
On the same day Zeglin earns an All-American selection, he is also awarded the Big West Pitcher of the Year. A sure-fire choice, the right-hander led the league with 94.2 innings on the mound and 117 strikeouts. He also ranked second with a 2.00 ERA and .202 opponent batting average. Of his 15 starts, he only surrendered more than three earned runs once, totaling 10 quality starts including six straight to end the season.
One of the top 10 starting pitchers in the country as chosen by D1Baseball.com, he ranked seventh in all of NCAA in ERA and strikeouts, while ranking twelfth in WHIP (0.99) and 26th in hits per nine (6.37). He was also named the National Pitcher of the Week on May 15 after a 10-strikeout complete game shutout of UC Santa Barbara. Zeglin was also an All-Big West First Team selection.
The grad transfer becomes the 12th Long Beach State hurler to win the league's top honor and second in the Valenzuela era (Johnathan Lavallee, 2021).
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— LBSU Dirtbags (@LBDirtbags) June 1, 2023
Nico becomes the 12th LBSU arm to garner top honors and 2nd of the Valenzuela era #skoBags pic.twitter.com/f6lVKl7iWp
The third Long Beach State represented on the all-conference team was corner infield Jonathon Long. In his draft-eligible season, he put up career-highs in games (55), runs (40), hits (67), doubles (17), home runs (15), RBI (52), and slugging percentage (.600). He was one of just five hitters in the Big West to post an OPS above 1.000 to go along with leading the league in homers.
For his Dirtbags career, Long ranks second in home runs (26) and sixth in slugging percentage (.543).
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— LBSU Dirtbags (@LBDirtbags) June 1, 2023
Nico and Connor are first team selections while Jonny earns second team honors #skoBags pic.twitter.com/1cCsscNOo7
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