Nevada freshman sensation Shaun Kort picked up his second piece of hardware of the off-season last week.
Kort, the Wolf Pack's clutch-hitting first baseman, was named to Pingbaseball.com second-team freshman All-American squad after hitting .392. Kort had a .461 on-base percentage, 50 RBI and 44 runs scored.
Earlier, Kort was selected to the 2007 Louisville Slugger freshman All-American squad. The only other WAC players selected were Vinnie Catricala of Hawai'i and Kyle Bellows of San Jose State.
On the subject of baseball, 14 WAC players were chosen in last week's annual Major League Baseball draft.
Fresno State led the way with four selections - outfielder Brian Lapin (18th round, No. 252, Rockies), outfielder Ozzie Lewis (21st, No. 662, Twins), pitcher Brandon Miller (24th round, No. 732, Rockies) and outfielder Steve Susdorf (27th round, No. 840, Tigers).
Nevada and Hawai'i had three selections apiece.
Ryan Rodriquez (17th round, No. 525, Mariners), pitcher Matt Renfree (24th round, No. 735, Mariners) and pitcher Rod Scurry (31st round, No. 945, Mariners). Tyler Davis (21st round, No. 657, Padres), Ian Harrington (23rd round, No. 703) and third baseman Justin Frash (27th round, No. 840, Athletics) were the Hawai'i selections.
Louisiana Tech outfielder Brian Rike was the 72nd player taken overall. He was chosen by the Rockies in the second round.
LUIK HONORED
Aivi Luik, who helped lead Nevada to the WAC tournament title last season, was named to the Women's Premier Soccer League Team of the Week.
Luik helped FC Indiana remained undefeated with a 2-0 win over River Cities FC last Thursday. She was taken down in the penalty box in the 87th minute, and Fatima Leyva converted the PK to cement the victory. Luik contributed an assist in FC Indiana's 4-1 win over FCTwente 3 in Chicago last Monday.
Luik, who was Nevada's captain in 2006, scored nine goals and seven assists in her 42 career games with the Wolf Pack.
KUDOS FOR COFFMAN
Nevada freshman golfer Taylor Coffman was named to the Golf Coaches Association of America's Division I PING All-Southwest Region team.
The region teams consist of the top 15 players in the Individual Ranking System in each of the eight areas. Also any golfer in the top 75 according to the Golfstat or the Sagarin rankings can be added.
Coffman was the 2007 Western Athletic Conference Player and Freshman of the Year after leading the Wolf Pack to its first-ever WAC golf championship and an NCAA West Regional berth this season. He finished with a 71.74 stroke average.
"Taylor is a special player, and we're excited about all the post-season awards," Nevada coach Rich Merritt said. "More importantly, we're excited about his future and what he's going to mean to our program in the next three or four years."
ONLY 12 IN 2007
The University of Hawai'i Warrior football team will play only 12 football games this season, according to Herman Frazier, UH athletics director.
"After a long and exhaustive process that included discussions with several schools, no team we targeted for a 13th game would agree to play at UH in 2007," Frazier said in a press release. "Therefore, we will play a 12-game schedule this season. I want to thank WAC commissioner Karl Benson and ESPN vice president Dave Brown for their assistance in trying to identify a fifth contest for national television. We look forward to the exposure UH will receive from the four games already scheduled for ESPN or ESPN 2."
Hawai'i will open the 2007 season against Northern Colorado on Sept. 1 and play seven home games at Aloha Stadium. The Warriors currently have two open dates (Oct. 20 and Nov. 3) on the schedule.
IU SIGNS HOOP RECRUIT
Sterling Jackson has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Idaho next season.
Jackson, a combo guard from Del City High School at Oklahoma City, Okla., was a first- team all-state selection at the 6A level.
Other schools that recruited Jackson included Long Beach State, Montana State, and Lamar.
"I just want to be in a program where I can grow as a student-athlete," Jackson told Hoopmasters.com. "I really have faith in the coaches at Idaho. That is what sold me on the program."
• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281