Rasner honored, Nevada baseball on way to Sunken Diamond

Darrell Rasner added another page to what has turned into a storybook freshman baseball season at the University of Nevada when he was named to the All-Big West Conference first-team this week.

Rasner, a freshman pitcher from Carson City, was one of five Wolf Pack players to receive first-team honors, including senior center fielder Joe Inglett, who was named Player of the Year. Gary Powers was also named Coach of the Year for Nevada (37-17).

Rasner led Wolf Pack pitchers in wins (13-2) and ERA (3.54) this season. The right-hander struck out 94 and walked 42 in 117 innings of work, and opposing batters hit .272 against him. Rasner shares Nevada's single-season record for wins, the most recent coming on May 14 when he threw a complete-game shutout to beat Long Beach State 14-0 in a pivotal Big West game.

Senior pitcher Chad Qualls was also named to the all-conference first-team, along with catcher Matt Ortiz, first baseman Don Price and outfielder Ryan Church. Third baseman Alex Rangel was named to the second-team.

Inglett, the Wolf Pack's dangerous leadoff hitter, owns Big West career records in hits, runs and walks, plus he stands in the top 10 in batting average, doubles and RBIs. The center fielder hit .435 to lead the conference this season, and he was also tops in in runs scored (82), total bases (148), slugging percentage (.664), hits (97) and on-base percentage (.529).

''It was a huge surprise to me. I never thought about being player of the year,'' Inglett said in an Associated Press story Wednesday. ''All that hard work has paid off.''

Ortiz said his teammate was well deserving of the top award.

''Nobody got him out all year,'' Ortiz said. ''They had to give it to him.''

Inglett played four years for the Wolf Pack after being named the Sacramento Bee's Prep Metro Player of the Year in 1996 as a senior at Mesa Verde High School.

Nevada is hitting .344 as a team this season, a mark that ranks among the top five nationally.

Powers, a member of Douglas High School's Baseball Hall of Fame, is in his 18th season as Nevada's head coach. He guided the Wolf Pack to the Big West co-championship and a second straight invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Powers was also honored as Big West Coach of the Year in 1994, another co-championship season for the Wolf Pack, and shared the honor last season with Fullerton's George Horton.

''In my opinion, that's a staff and team award. You don't get that award unless your team plays well and you get a lot of help from your assistant coaches,'' said Powers, who has 559 career victories at Nevada, 322 over the last nine years.

Nevada begins play in the NCAA Regional with a 3 p.m. contest against Alabama on Friday at Stanford University's Sunken Diamond. The game can be heard live on KPTT radio (630 AM).