May 15, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Junior outfielder Tiffany Wright, who was named the Big West Field Player of the Year earlier this week, has also been named to the NFCA All-West Region Second Team it was announced on Wednesday.

Wright, the Gauchos' center fielder, had a standout junior season culminating in All-West Region accolades and UCSB's first-ever Big West Field Player of the Year award. She was second on the team batting .350 overall across all 54 of the Gauchos' games while leading the team with 40 runs, 15 doubles, and 113 total bases. She was second on the team with 40 RBI. It was in Big West games, however, that she truly shined. The center fielder led all players in conference games for batting (.487), slugging percentage (.947), runs scored (23), hits (37), RBI (26), doubles (8), home runs (9), total bases (72), and fielding percentage (1.000).

Wright had hits in all but two conference games, including 11 multiple hit showings, and she ended the season amidst an eight-game hitting streak. During the final series of the season against Cal State Fullerton last weekend, she tied the UCSB career home run record with the 23rd of her three-year career and she also set a new single season doubles record with 15. She ranks second for single season home runs, fourth for single season runs, third for single season RBI, and third for single season hits in the UCSB record books. She also currently ranks amongst the nations' top-100 players for home runs per game (0.22), RBI per game (0.74), doubles per game (0.28), and slugging percentage (.638).

Prior to being named to the 2008 All-Big West Conference First Team, Wright earned three Big West Player of the Week honors throughout the course of the season.

Wright is the first Gaucho field player to garner All-Region honors since Leslie Simien in 2004. Pitcher Jennifer Davis was the lone All-Region recipient last season, also earning second team honors.

This season, the Gauchos accumulated a 30-24 overall record, marking just the fifth 30-win season in program history and the second consecutive. The Gauchos posted a Big West record of 13-8, good for second place, their best finish since 2004 when they tied Cal State Northridge for second with a 14-7 record.