Kansas City, Mo. – Saint Xavier University, the 2009 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) baseball champion, has landed two of its players on the 2010 NAIA Baseball Preseason All-America Team when the team was announced by the NAIA national office late Friday afternoon. Senior pitcher Jayson Koehn (Beecher, Illinois./Beecher), a 2009 NAIA All-America First Team selection and the 2009 CCAC Pitcher of the Year, and senior shortstop John O'Brien (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich), a 2009 NAIA All-America Honorable Mention choice, were one of just four pairs of players from the same team named to the 17-member squad.
Koehn, a left-hander, finished in the top six in the nation in five pitching categories highlighted by his sparkling 1.00 earned run average (ERA), which led the NAIA. He also placed second in total earned runs allowed (8), fourth in total runs allowed (17), fifth in opponents’ batting average (.185) and sixth in hits allowed per 9 innings (6.00). Koehn finished what he started in nearly all of his games last spring going 9-1 in 12 starts with seven complete games, five of which were shutouts. In 72.0 innings pitched, he allowed just 48 hits and 15 walks.
O’Brien led the conference in runs batted in (RBI) with 72 in only 51 games. He batted .424 with 67 hits in 158 at bats and also registered a .709 slugging percentage with 17 doubles, five triples and six home runs to go along with 57 runs scored. An All-CCAC first team pick, O’Brien fielded at a .979 clip with only four errors in 192 chances.
Saint Xavier kicks off its 2010 campaign during the first week of March heading down to Florida for its annual Spring Break trip. The Cougars have not yet released their match-ups for the season-opening week.
