Posted: Aug 18, 2015

14 Owls to Matriculate for Baseball

The Citrus College Baseball program is moving on 14 players to four-year universities in 2015.

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Baseball program is pleased to announce that 12 members of its 2015 squad along with two others from the previous season's team will be matriculating this Fall. Two will be off to NCAA DI programs, four to NCAA DII universities, one to an NCAA DIII school, and seven to NAIA institutions.

Center fielder Taylor Grace leads the signings having inked with NCAA DI and Big Ten member Michigan State University. It's the first Big Ten signing in the Gomez era. Grace was a two-time 1st team All-Western State Conference South Division selection, hitting .371 across two seasons with a .415 on-base percentage, and a .510 slugging percentage. As a sophomore Grace batted a league leading .400 with 33 runs scored, 24 RBIs, and seven stolen bases.

Moving onto NCAA Division II California State University, East Bay is a trio of Owls in pitchers Nicholas Sergi and Sean Patton along with first baseman Troy Resch. Sergi was the unquestioned ace for the Owls in 2015, posting a 9-2 record with a 2.50 ERA over the course of 90 innings, fanning 57 batters and walking just 18. Over two seasons, Sergi was 14-3 with a 2.28 ERA, and averaged 5.41 K's per game. As a freshman Sergi was a 2nd team All-WSC South selection, before going on to earn 1st team All-WSC South honors as a sophomore.

Patton meanwhile was a strong #2 for the Owls' pitching staff over the last two seasons. Patton posted a 2.07 ERA as a freshman in 65.1 innings of work. As a sophomore Patton posted a 3.75 ERA in 69.2 innings on the hill. Over two seasons, Patton struck out a total of 124 batters, tops on the team. Resch followed up a strong freshman campaign in which he hit .271 and was named the WSC South's lone Golden Glove award winner, by batting .336 with 26 RBIs as a sophomore. Resch stole seven bases, posted a .448 on-base percentage and hit 13 doubles on his way to 1st team All-WSC South honors. Moving on to California State Dominguez Hills is catcher Shawn Sweeney. Sweeney batted .276 as a sophomore, over the course of 32 games, with 20 runs scored, 17 RBIs, and five stolen bases.

Two Owls will be matriculating to Midland University. Outfielder Aaron Torres and pitcher Conlan McKenzie will all be suiting up for the Warriors. Torres hit .230 over the course of two seasons and 60 games. Torres posted an on-base percentage of .397, with 17 stolen bases, 38 runs, and 25 RBIs. Torres also leaves Citrus as the all-time leader in career hit by pitches and as single season hit by pitch record holder. McKenzie posted a career ERA of 4.40, with a 5-4 record and five saves. McKenzie fanned 48 batters in 43 innings of work, posting a career 10.05 K's per game.

Other NAIA newbies next season will be Mark Segat at Kansas Wesleyan University, Matthew Page at Valley City State University, and Cameron Rodriguez at the University of the Cumberlands. Segat appeared in 21 games as a sophomore hitting .312 with a .361 on-base percentage, scoring six runs, and driving in 15. Page made nine appearances over the course of two seasons, while Rodriguez went 6-5 over two seasons with a 4.47 ERA in 94.2 innings worth of work.

Moving on to NCAA DIII the University of La Verne will be sophomore catcher Brendan Campbell. Campbell hit .342 this past season in 12 games, posting a .409 on-base percentage. Sophomore Jorge Zepeda who will move on to Washington State University and walk-on for the Cougars.

Rounding out the total matriculating class is former Owls Marcos Martinez (St. Catharine College [KY]) and Ryan Miles (Texas College). Martinez sat out the 2015 season with the Owls, while Miles transferred out of Citrus at the semester break.