Jan. 8, 2009

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg has been named the pre-season national player of the year as a member of the 2009 Louisville Slugger All-American team as selected by Collegiate Baseball.

A consensus All-America selection in 2008, he has also been named a preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and appears on the Wallace Award watch list, an honor presented to the top collegiate player in the country at season's end.

Strasburg, a San Diego, Calif., native, returns to SDSU for his third season after earning consensus All-America honors in 2008. He finished the season with a record of 8-3 and a 1.57 earned run average in 13 starts. He struck out 133 batters and walked only 16 over 97.1 innings and was named the 2008 MWC Pitcher of the Year.

This past summer, Strasburg had the distinction of being the lone collegiate player on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing where he earned a bronze medal after making appearances against The Netherlands and Cuba. He was also a member of the U.S collegiate national team that captured a pair of international tournament titles in Europe. His overall stats for the summer included a 5-1 record with a 1.21 earned run average along with 78 strikeouts and eight walks in 52 innings.

Strasburg set Mountain West Conference and school records with his 23 strikeouts in a game against Utah on April 11 last year and his total of 133 K's over 97.1 innings during the 2008 season.

San Diego State opens its 2009 campaign on Feb. 20 when it takes on Bethune-Cookman at the MLB Urban Invitational in Compton, Calif. The Aztecs home opener comes on Tuesday, Feb. 24, when they host nationally-ranked Cal State Fullerton.