May 30, 2007

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Senior Brian Pellegrini has been named to the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American baseball third team announced on Wednesday by Collegiate Baseball.

Pellegrini is the first player in program history to earn All-American status and the first student-athlete at St. Bonaventure to do so since Barbara Vassallo, a diver, was named an All-American on the one-meter board in 1993.

"I'm extremely proud of Brian," said head coach Larry Sudbrook. "Playing in the Northeast makes it very difficult to get the amount of notoriety and exposure that you need to compete with the Southern and Western players for these types of awards. This just further shows how talented he really is."

Pellegrini became just the second player in Atlantic 10 history to be named the Conference Player of the Year twice, garnering the award in 2006 and 2007. This season he set program single-season records with 24 doubles, 17 home runs, 59 RBI and a .833 slugging percentage. Pellegrini also batted a career-high .391 and led the team with 57 runs, 68 hits, 145 total bases, 33 walks and a league-leading .498 on-base percentage. He recorded a hit in 37 of 45 games this season and belted two home runs and seven RBI in his final game, including a three-run homer in his final collegiate at-bat.

Nationally, Pellegrini ranks in the top 11 in doubles per game (0.52/2nd), slugging percentage (4th), home runs per game (0.37/7th), runs batted in per game (1.28/9th) and runs per game (1.24/11th).

The Willoughby, Ohio, native ended his illustrious four-year career as a four-time A-10 All-Conference selection. He was the A-10 Tournament MVP as a freshman when the Bonnies captured their first-ever Conference championship. Pellegrini owns Bonaventure career records for hits (262), runs scored (181), doubles (60), home runs (48) and RBI (201).

Pellegrini hopes to hear his name called again in next week's Major League Baseball draft. The 50-round draft will begin on Thursday, June 7 at 2 p.m. For the first time in MLB history the first round of the draft will be shown live on ESPN2 with coverage lasting until 6 p.m.