Baseball 5/21/2009 12:00:00 AM

ORU Baseball Sweeps Summit League Major Awards

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts University baseball team swept the Summit League major awards for the sixth consecutive season as announced on Wednesday night. Mark Serrano was named the Player and Pitcher of the Year and Seth Furmanek earned Newcomer of the Year honors, while Rob Walton was named the Summit League Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his six seasons at the helm of the Golden Eagles.

Serrano (Downey, Calif.) was named the Summit League Player and Pitcher of the Year after posting an overall record of 9-0 this season with a 2.38 ERA. Serrano won all five starts in conference play, and posted all three of his complete games in league action. Serrano was named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after tossing a two-hit complete-game shutout at North Dakota State with a career-high 16 strikeouts on April 25.

The senior right-hander has fanned 107 batters this season in 72.0 innings pitched, which ranks eighth all-time at ORU for a single season. Serrano currently ranks third nationally with a 13.38 strikeouts per nine innings mark, while also placing seventh in total strikeouts and 15th in ERA. Serrano's selection as both Summit League Player and Pitcher of the Year marked the fourth time as Golden Eagle has achieved the feat.

Furmanek (Gilbert, Ariz.) earned Newcomer of the Year honors, marking the sixth consecutive season a Golden Eagle has earned the award. Furmanek posted a .340 batting average during the regular season, and led the squad with 15 home runs while ranking second with 56 RBI. In league play, Furmanek hit at a .425 clip and led the conference in RBI (37), total bases (3.78 per game) and slugging percentage (.932), while tying for tops with 10 homers. Furmanek earned Summit League Player of the Week honors twice during the season.

In addition to Serrano and Furmanek, Juan Martinez (Bakersfield, Calif.), P.J. Sequeira (Petaluma, Calif.), Johnny Roberts (Pryor, Okla.), Andre Lamontagne (Santa Maria, Calif.) and Jerry Sullivan (Budd Lake, N.J.) earned spots on the first team, while Tyler Garewal (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Jeff Burleson (Bakersfield, Calif.) were second-team selections.

Martinez earned his second first-team all-conference selection after leading the Golden Eagles with a .379 batting average and 58 RBI. Martinez also tallied 11 doubles and 13 homers and led the Golden Eagles with a .470 on-base percentage. Martinez batted .419 in league play with seven doubles, five homers and 35 runs driven in. The senior shortstop earned National Player of the Week honors by Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA after going 13-of-22 in five games with five long balls and 19 RBI.

Sequeira batted .340 overall this season with 11 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 33 RBI. The junior outfielder led the Golden Eagles in Summit League play, posting a .466 average with a .795 slugging percentage. Sequeira led the league in hits (1.89 per game) and ranked second in runs (1.83 per game).

Roberts was among seven Golden Eagles to earn his first all-conference award after rounding out the regular season with a .307 batting average, eight doubles, seven homers and 35 RBI. Roberts hit six of his eight doubles and five of his seven long balls in Summit League play while batting .368 and slugging .676.

Lamontagne was one of three Golden Eagle starters to earn all-conference accolades after posting a 4-2 overall record and a 3.41 ERA in 14 appearances and 11 starts. Lamontagne went 3-0 in Summit League play, and fanned 31 batters in 26 1/3 innings. The senior right-hander tallied a career-high 13 strikeouts in a 19-0 win over IPFW on April 3, while tossing his first-career complete game on May 9 at Oakland.

Sullivan earned his third all-conference award and second first-team selection as a Golden Eagle after posting a 6-3 record with a 3.29 ERA. Sullivan especially shined in league play, going 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA and fanning 64 batters in only 45 1/3 innings. Sullivan tallied a career-high 16 punch outs on April 11 in a 22-1 win over South Dakota State. The junior led the conference in strikeouts (12.71 per nine innings) and innings pitched (7.56 per appearance).

Garewal was named to the second-team in his first season as a Golden Eagle after posting the second-best batting average on the team (.344) with 11 doubles, five homers, 32 RBI and 13 stolen bases. Garewal hit at a .423 clip in conference action and led the Golden Eagles with 16 walks against league opponents.

Burleson earned second-team honors as a relief pitcher after posting a stellar second-half of the season. Burleson came on in relief in the third inning against Centenary on April 19 and struck out a career-high 12 batters in 7.0 innings pitched for his first collegiate victory. The junior right-hander threw his first-career complete game at Oakland on May 9, only allowing one run to earn his second victory of the year. Burleson, a converted infielder, posted a 3.04 ERA in 10 appearances with 27 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings, while only allowing two earned runs in 17.0 innings pitched in league play.

Walton was named Summit League Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and fourth time overall after leading the Golden Eagles to a 16-2 league record and their 11th consecutive conference regular season title.

In 12 seasons in the Summit League, ORU has earned 124 all-conference selections, including 84 first-team honors.

The Golden Eagles open the Currington Mortgage Summit League Baseball Championship against Centenary at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

Summit League Player of the Year
Mark Serrano, Oral Roberts

Summit League Pitcher of the Year
Mark Serrano, Oral Roberts

Summit League Newcomer of the Year
Seth Furmanek, Oral Roberts

Summit League Coach of the Year
Rob Walton, Oral Roberts

Summit League First Team
Stephen Turner, South Dakota State, 1B
Keli'i Zablan, Southern Utah, 2B
Jesse Sawyer, South Dakota State, 3B
Juan Martinez, Oral Roberts, SS
Seth Furmanek, Oral Roberts, C
P.J. Sequeira, Oral Roberts, OF
Johnny Roberts, Oral Roberts, DH
Tony Martin, South Dakota State, UTL
Andre Lamontagne, Oral Roberts, SP
Mark Serrano, Oral Roberts, SP
Jerry Sullivan, Oral Roberts, SP

Summit League Second Team
Tell Ross, Centenary, 1B
Tommy Jablonski, Oakland, 2B
Drew Laidig, Western Illinois, 3B
Ricky Imperiali, Centenary, SS
Justin Kline, North Dakota State, C
Joel Blake, South Dakota State, OF
Tyler Garewal, Oral Roberts, OF
Travis Leversen, Centenary, OF
Michael Tompkins, Centenary, DH
Chester Wilson, Southern Utah, UTL
Steve Johnson, Southern Utah, SP
Justin Kraft, Centenary, SP
John Straka, North Dakota State, SP
Jeff Burleson, Oral Roberts, RP

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Players Mentioned

#24 Jeff Burleson: RHP/INF; 6' 2"; Junior

#9 Seth Furmanek: C; 6' 2"; Junior

#21 Tyler Garewal: OF; 6' 0"; Junior

#18 Andre Lamontagne: RHP; 6' 4"; Senior

#5 Juan Martinez: INF; 5' 10"; Senior

#33 Johnny Roberts: OF; 6' 1"; Senior

#25 P.J. Sequeira: OF; 6' 3"; Junior

#8 Mark Serrano: RHP; 6' 1"; Senior

#15 Jerry Sullivan: RHP; 6' 4"; Junior; Mt. Olive

Rob Walton: HC; Redshirt

Players Mentioned

#24 Jeff Burleson
: 6' 2"; Junior
: RHP/INF

#9 Seth Furmanek
: 6' 2"; Junior
: C

#21 Tyler Garewal
: 6' 0"; Junior
: OF

#18 Andre Lamontagne
: 6' 4"; Senior
: RHP

#5 Juan Martinez
: 5' 10"; Senior
: INF

#33 Johnny Roberts
: 6' 1"; Senior
: OF

#25 P.J. Sequeira
: 6' 3"; Junior
: OF

#8 Mark Serrano
: 6' 1"; Senior
: RHP

#15 Jerry Sullivan
: 6' 4"; Junior; Mt. Olive
: RHP

Rob Walton
: Redshirt
: HC