Brant Colamarino Earns All-Big East First-Team Accolades
5/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Brant Colamarino Earns All-Big East First-Team Accolades
5/22/2002
PITTSBURGH-Coming off a record-breaking season, the University of Pittsburgh baseball team was well represented on the All-Big East Conference list announced tonight by the league office. Junior Brant Colamarino earned first-team All-Big East honors, senior Brad Rea was named second team all-conference and junior P.J. Hiser and sophomore Bryan Spamer were selected to the third team.
Colamarino's (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) first-team berth is the Panthers' first since Josh Tyler and Craig Crawley earned the distinction in 1994. The four all-league selections for Pittsburgh also marks the most since the 1994 Big East championship team placed four on the list.
Colamarino led the Panthers in batting average (.384), runs (58), home runs (19), walks (40) and slugging percentage (.802). His 19 home runs tied the school single-season mark set by Joe Lydic in 2000, while his 58 runs also broke Lydic's mark of 57 set that same year. A three-time Big East Player of the Week, Colamarino also ranks in the top 10 in several Panther career categories, including batting average, hits, runs, home runs and RBIs. The award is Colamarino's first all-league honor.
Rea (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) capped off the most prolific offensive career in the history of the Panther program with his second-team selection. Rea owns school records for career at-bats (731), hits (237), runs (148), home runs (46), RBIs (198) and doubles (44). He also broke the single-season mark this year for hits (76) and RBIs (66) and finished the season batting .369 with 18 home runs and 43 runs scored. This also marks the first postseason honor for Rea.
In his first season with Pittsburgh, Hiser (Hagerstown, Md./Hagerstown) became the ace of the pitching staff. The junior right-hander owned a 6-2 record with four saves and a team-best 3.01 ERA. In 74.2 innings, Hiser struck out 87 batters and allowed just 48 hits. Opponents batted just .181 against him, a Big East low. A two-time Big East Pitcher of the Week, Hiser also ranked among the league's leaders in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched.
Spamer (Harrisburg, Pa./Redlands) finished the season among Pittsburgh's leaders in several categories to earn his first all-conference honor. In 51 games, he batted .368 with 71 hits, 41 runs and 36 RBIs, while stealing 10 bases in 14 attempts. Spamer's 71 hits were tied for the fourth-most in school history and he also led the team with 11 sacrifice hits.
Notre Dame's Steve Stanley earned his second consecutive Player of the Year award. Boston College's Chris Lambert claimed Pitcher and Rookie of the Year accolades, while Eagle head coach Peter Hughes was selected as the Coach of the Year.
Pittsburgh finished the season with an overall record of 36-16-1, the most wins since 1995. Also the Panthers were 14-11 in the Big East, breaking the school mark for conference victories in a single season.