May 23, 2006
IRVING, Texas - Three UCF baseball players collected All-Conference USA honors, the league office announced Tuesday. Junior RHP Tim Bascom was named First Team All-Conference USA by the league's head coaches while freshman OF Dave DiNatale and freshman LHP Mitch Houck were named to the All-Conference USA Freshman Team.
Bascom, the Preseason C-USA Pitcher of the Year, finished the season with a 5-6 record and 2.47 ERA. He posted 90 strikeouts in 80 innings of work. He was among the C-USA leaders in ERA, strikeouts, innings pitched and opposing batting average (.215).
He had three starts of 10-plus strikeouts in 2006, including season-high 12 in C-USA play vs. Marshall. Bascom was named C-USA Pitcher of the Week after a complete-game, two-hit shutout vs. East Carolina.
DiNatale ended the 2006 campaign with a .276 batting average with two home runs and 26 RBI in 54 games in both right and center field. DiNatale committed just one error and recorded a .989 fielding percentage. He led the squad with 18 doubles and 24 extra-base hits.
Houck was a two-way player for the Golden Knights both on the mound and at first base. On the mound, Houck finished the season 3-4 with a 4.24 ERA in 63.2 innings of work. He ended the season second on the squad with 70 strikeouts.
He held No. 23 Tulane to two runs on four hits in 7.2 innings with nine strikeouts for the win. He also held No. 1 Rice scoreless over 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts and yielded one run in 6.0 innings with three strikeouts at No. 10 Houston. Houck tossed his first career complete-game shutout with a four-hitter at USF, including eight strikeouts.