SAN FRANCISCO — The Pac-12 released the All-Conference baseball team today, and three Trojans headlined the first team, while six earned honorable mention honors.
David Oppenheim, Jeremy Martinez and AJ Ramirez earned first team honors, while Corey Dempster, Brooks Kriske, Marc Huberman, Joe Navilhon, Frankie Rios and Timmy Robinson were named honorable mention selection.
Leading the Trojans as a first team selection was senior designated hitter David Oppenheim (Mercer Island, Calif./College of the Canyons), who also became the first Trojan since 1995 to earn the Pac-12 batting title. Oppenheim finished the year with an impressive .387 batting average, starting all 53 games he appeared in, recording 74 hits, including four home runs, while driving in 25 runs. He had a slugging percentage of .508 and an on-base percentage of .500, tops on the team. The batting title and the First Team All-Pac-12 honors are the first of Oppenheim’s career. He becomes just the fourth Trojan all-time to win the title, and the first since there became just one batting champion for the Pac-10/12 (1999). Prior to that there was a North champ and a South champ. In 1995, Geoff Jenkins hit .399 to tie for the South title, Scott Sommers earned the honor in 1986 with a .409 average and Tim Tolman won the title with a .404 average in 1978.
Junior catcher Jeremy Martinez (Fountain Valley, Calif./Mater Dei HS), a two-time Pac-12 honorable mention selection, earned his first team honors for the first time in his career. The Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist batted .376, driving in 42 runs, good for third-most on the team. He also tallied six home runs. Behind the plate, he threw out 24-of-54 would-be base stealers. He started all 56 games for the Trojans, 54 of those at catcher.
Senior outfielder AJ Ramirez (Phoenix, Ariz./Bakersfield Christian HS) earned his first All-Pac-12 first team honors of his career after being named honorable mention in 2015. He finished the season with the fourth-highest batting average on the team (.301), while his nine home runs led the team and his 44 RBIs were second-best.
For the first time in his career, Corey Dempster (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola HS) earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention, batting .290 through 49 games. The junior drove in 24 runs and tallied six home runs with 10 stolen bases on the year.
Senior relief pitchers Brooks Kriske (Palm Desert, Calif./Palm Desert HS) and Marc Huberman (Los Angeles, Calif./Hamilton HS) each earned honorable mention selections for the first time in their four-year careers. Both Kriske and Huberman each had a team-high 26 appearances on the year, with six and three saves, respectively. Huberman boasts a team-low ERA of 1.94, striking out 45 batters through 41.2 innings. Opponents are hitting just .188 against him. Kriske had the second-lowest ERA on the team, 2.55 through 35.1 innings of work. He struck out 42 and walked just 15.
Senior centerfielder Timmy Robinson (Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View HS), a first team honoree in 2015, led the Trojans with 46 RBI in 2016 as an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection. He batted .282, starting all 56 games for the Trojans, tallying eight home runs (second-most on the team), along with a team-high 18 doubles.
Redshirt sophomore Frankie Rios (Lakewood, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) batted .323 through 55 games, starting 51 of those, mostly as second base. His batting average was the third-highest on the team, and he drove in 20 runs with six doubles, a team-high three triples and two home runs.
Redshirt junior Joe Navilhon (Brentwood, Calif./Chabot College) earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors in his first season in the Cardinal and Gold. The right-handed pitcher stepped up big time for the Trojans, stating the season in the bullpen before morphing into the Trojans Friday night starter. He finished 5-5 with a team-low 3.38 ERA for starters. Through 82.2 innings pitched he struck out a team-high 71 batters. He made 20 appearances, starting 11 of those games.
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