University of Houston Athletics
Three Cougars Named All-Americans
6/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 11, 2002
HOUSTON, Texas - Houston pitcher Brad Sullivan, shortstop/relief pitcher Jesse Crain and catcher Chris Snyder were placed on the 14th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers All-America teams Tuesday.
Sullivan was named to an All-America squad for the second time in the postseason, while Crain was placed on the Second Team. Snyder earned Third Team honors.
In 2002, Sullivan enjoyed one of the finest seasons by a collegiate pitcher. The Nederland, Texas, native tied a UH single-season record with a 13-1 record and shattered the old record with 157 strikeouts. He was named to the Collegiate Baseball All-America squad earlier this month and compiled a 3-0 record with a 0.36 ERA in four games during the Conference USA and NCAA postseason.
Crain, who was taken as the No. 61 pick overall by the Minnesota Twins in last week's amateur draft, was one of the most versatile players in the country this season. He compiled a .309 batting average with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs to rank among the team's top five leaders in each category.
However, he was equally effective on the mound where he set a new UH single-season UH record with 10 saves and compiled a 0.23 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. The Boulder, Colo., native also threw 35.2 consecutive scoreless innings - the second longest streak in school history - and allowed only one earned run all season as a reliever.
Snyder was the team's offensive leader in 2002, topping the squad with a .343 batting average and a UH single-season record 71 RBIs. He teamed with Brett Cooley (18 homers) and Crain to form the most powerful home run-hitting trio in UH history, blasting a combined 44 home runs.
The Houston native, who was a second-round draft pick of the defending World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks, also tallied 13 doubles and helped guide a Cougar pitching staff to a 3.20 team ERA, one of the finest marks in the nation. For his impressive efforts, Snyder was honored as one of 10 semifinalists of the Johnny Bench Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award.
All three Cougars helped lead UH to a berth in the 2002 NCAA Super Regional at Austin last weekend and a No. 10 ranking in both the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls earlier this week.
