UCI trio preseason All-Americans

Three UC Irvine senior pitchers have been named to preseason All-American teams by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn., including first-team picks Danny Bibona and Eric Pettis.

Christian Bergman was named to the third team.

Bibona, the 2009 Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year, was 12-1 with a 2.63 earned-run average as a junior. He struck out 108 in 106 innings while walking just 26. He was undefeated in seven Big West decisions, helping UCI claim its first conference crown.

The southpaw’s .923 winning percentage ranks second in UCI single-season annals.

Pettis is a two-time NCBWA preseason first-team All-American. The right-hander was third in the country in saves last season, tying the UCI single-season record with 17. He struck out 37 in 42 innings while posting a 5-2 record.

Pettis walked just seven batters and was an NCBWA Stopper of the Year finalist and a first-team all-conference honoree.

Bergman earned second-team all-conference laurels after going 9-3 with a 3.50 ERA last season. He struck out 66 and walked only 16 in 15 starts, spanning 97 2/3 innings.

UCI opens the 2010 season on Feb. 19 against Loyola Marymount at Anteater Ballpark.

— From staff reports

Six Pirates lauded

Freshman forward Kallie Ryker, who finished 15th in the state in scoring, tops three first-team All-Orange Empire Conference performers from the Orange Coast College women’s soccer team.

Ryker, who finished with 19 goals and eight assists, is joined on the first team by Pirates Kayla Albin and Taryn Bales.

OCC sophomores Erica Munoz-Harday and Lara Tishler, as well as freshman Chelsea Hilliard, were named to the second team.

Bales, a freshman forward, had eight goals and 14 assists to help Coach Kevin Smith’s squad finish 14-6-1, 10-5-1 in conference, good for third place.

Albin, a freshman midfielder, had one goal and three assists.

Tishler, a midfielder, had nine goals and six assists, while Munoz-Hardway posted two goals and three assists from her midfield position.

Hilliard, a defender, had one assist.

— From staff reports

Buffs honor Mohler

Shaun Mohler, a former football standout at Corona del Mar High and Orange Coast College, was recognized at the recent season-ending banquet at Colorado University.

Mohler, an inside linebacker who had 42 tackles, including 24 solo stops, was one of 49 players to earn the inaugural Gold Group Commitment Award.

The award, voted on by coaches and other support staff, recognized “excellence with class” in academics, athletics and a player’s personal life. Recipients were judged to have maintained the program’s core values of leadership, hard work, passion, selflessness, trust, attention to detail, discipline and toughness.

Mohler’s tackle total this season ranked eighth on the team. But, his tackle percentage, having made a tackle on 18.2% of his 230 plays, ranked first among the 18 Buffaloes defenders who played in at least 10 games.

Colorado finished 3-9.

Mohler received honorable mention in the all-conference voting as a junior. His 97 tackles in 2008 ranked second on the team and included 65 solo stops. He had two interceptions, tied for the team lead.

He was the Mission Conference American Division Defensive Co-Player of the Year as a sophomore at OCC.

— Barry Faulkner