COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A trio of Diamond 'Dogs were named to the 2021 Preseason All-Mountain West team and the Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the 2021 Mountain West preseason coaches poll, as announced by the conference office on Thursday.
Senior catcher Zach Presno, senior pitcher Nikoh Mitchell, and junior infielder/outfielder Ryan Higgins represent the 'Dogs on the 13-member team. Despite the Diamond 'Dogs only playing 16 games this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Presno was one of the top hitters in the MW a season ago leading the conference in home runs (8) and slugging percentage (.804) to rank third and 10th in the nation, respectively.
In addition, Presno led the 'Dogs and tied for third in the MW in runs scored (16) and RBI (16). The Clovis native ranked second in the MW and 23rd in the country with 45 total bases and led the 'Dogs with a .441 on-base percentage. Behind the plate, Presno started 13 games at catcher with a .992 fielding percentage.
A native of Atherton, Calif., Higgins was off to a tear at the plate in his second season as a Bulldog leading the team and ranking sixth in the MW with a .350 average from the plate. He appeared in 15 games while making six starts, four in left field and two at third base, along with nine appearances in the designated hitter spot, Higgins led the 'Dogs in at-bats (60), hits (21), and doubles (7) where he tied for fourth in the MW.
Finally, Mitchell is coming off making four relief appearances on the mound in the 'Dogs COVID-19 shortened season posting a 1-0 record with a 0.93 ERA. In 9.2 innings of work, he ranked third on the team with 15 strikeouts, only issued three walks, and held opponents to eight hits, one earned run, and a .235 average from the plate.
As a team, the Diamond 'Dogs garnered one of seven first-place votes and tallied 29 points overall falling seven votes shy of San Diego State who picked up the remaining six first-place votes and 36 total votes.
New Mexico and UNLV tied for third with 23 votes apiece followed by Nevada in fifth, Air Force in sixth and San Jose State in seventh.
All selections were based on votes by MW coaches and coaches could not vote on their own team or players.
Fresno State returns 27 student-athletes from its 2020 roster with 23 appearing in a game last season and four coming off redshirt seasons. The 'Dogs add 12 newcomers, including 10 true freshmen.
The Bulldogs open the 2021 season on Feb. 19 at UC Irvine at 3 p.m. at Anteater Ballpark.
2021 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. San Diego State (6) 36
2. Fresno State (1) 29
3. New Mexico 23
UNLV 23
5. Nevada 16
6. Air Force 11
7. San José State 9
2021 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Name Class Position Institution
$Cole Blatchford Sr. 3B Air Force
$Ryan Higgins Jr. INF/OF Fresno State
Nikoh Mitchell Sr. LHP Fresno State
$Zach Presno Sr. C Fresno State
$Owen Sharts Jr. RHP Nevada
#Joshua Zamora Sr. 3B Nevada
$Justin Armbruester Sr. RHP New Mexico
$Kyle Landers Sr. 1B New Mexico
Jaden Fein So. RF San Diego State
$Troy Melton So. RHP San Diego State
$#Matt Rudick Jr. CF San Diego State
$Eric Bigani Jr. C UNLV
#Edarian Williams So. 2B UNLV
$ 2020 All-MW Selection
# 2020 All-MW Preseason Selection
