Boggan, Minnich Tabbed Pre-Season All-Americans

CLU baseball back in swing for spring

Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 12:00 pm

Nick Boggan (L) and Byron Minnich hope to continue their success from last season.
Credit: Gaby Torres Hi-res image

Release by Tracy Maple (CLU Sports Information)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - With spring semester underway and baseball opening day around the corner, the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen will take the diamond with a pair of D3baseball.com Preseason All-Americans in Nick Boggan and Byron Minnich as announced Tuesday.

Official Release: D3baseball.com

Overall, 54 players comprise the three teams selected from 379 teams that sponsor baseball at the NCAA Division III level. Boggan and Minnich were two of the four SCIAC players named to Preseason All-America teams.

Boggan, has been named to the Second Team Preseason All-America. The junior will man third base after earning American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division III
All-America Third Team and All-SCIAC First Team accolades in 2011. As a sophomore he played all 40 games and led all CLU players offensively with a .409 batting average, .698 slugging percentage and .492 on-base percentage. He connected for 61 hits, including 10 homeruns, and walked 24 times as he collected 104 total bases. Boggan scored 48 times and drove in 45 runs. He added 11 doubles, a triple and 14 stolen bases. The Pacific Grove, Calif. native had 17 multi-hit games and drove in multiple runs 13 times. Between Feb. 12 and March 4, 2011, Boggan produced a nine-game hit streak.

Entering his final season of collegiate baseball, Minnich will take the hill as a Third Team Preseason All-America. In 2011 the righty was an All-SCIAC Second Team selection as he led the Kingsmen with a 1.80 ERA in 24 appearances. The Thousand Oaks, Calif. native tossed 40.0 innings, earning a 3-0 record while converting nine saves for CLU. Minnich held opposing hitters to a .192 batting average as he struck out 46. Both his ERA and batting average against led all SCIAC players.

Cal Lutheran begins its 2012 campaign on Saturday, Jan. 28 when they host San Diego Christian University for a double-header beginning at 11 a.m. at George "Sparky" Anderson Field at Ullman Stadium.