Suzuki Earns Newcomer of the Year as Four Sharks Named to All-Conference Team

IRVINE, Calif. - The PacWest Conference announced their All-Conference Baseball teams tuesday afternoon with multiple Sharks collecting honors this season. Kota Suzuki headlined the program and took home Newcomer of the Year for the conference.

Suzuki started in all 47 games this year for the Sharks and led the team in nearly every major category. He raked in 61 hits, nine doubles, and 31 RBIs for a team-best .361 batting average and .455 OBP. He ended the season on a 17-game hitting streak the longest by anyone on the season. He was also named to the second team as an outfielder where he had four assists and 92 putouts this year.

Also repping the second team honors at second base is Nicholas Jio. Jio was selected to another all-conference team after being first-team in 2022. He batted his second consecutive season over .300 at .311 and cut his on-field mistakes in half this season. He set a new career-best in triples (3), and boasted a team-best 24 game on-base streak.

D.J. Stephens also picked up another third team All-PacWest honor for the second year in a row. Stephens set new career-bests in runs, doubles, RBIs, walks and HBP this season. He was a feared arm in the outfield as he added eight more assists to his career total of 23 in his three years with the program.

Last of the Sharks to bring home conference honors was Tejean Smith at shortstop. Smith proved again why he is one of the best shortstops in the PacWest batting .308, with 49 hits, two home runs, and 25 RBIs. He also improved on the defensive end from 14 errors in 2022 to just five in 2023.

Player of the Year: Jakob Christian, Point Loma
Pitcher of the Year: Garrett Cooper, Fresno Pacific
Coach of the Year: Esteban Contreras, Holy Names
Defender of the Year: Jordan Smith, Fresno Pacific
Freshman of the Year: Eddie Curley, Holy Names
Newcomer of the Year: Kota Suzuki, Hawaii Pacific

#GoSharks

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Players Mentioned

#7 Tejean Smith: INF; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#8 Kota Suzuki: OF; 6' 1"; Junior

#2 Nicholas Jio: INF; 5' 9"; Senior

#3 D.J. Stephens: OF; 5' 10"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#7 Tejean Smith
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: INF

#8 Kota Suzuki
: 6' 1"; Junior
: OF

#2 Nicholas Jio
: 5' 9"; Senior
: INF

#3 D.J. Stephens
: 5' 10"; Senior
: OF