June 30, 2008

Durham, NC - Cal State Fullerton's Christian Colon and Gary Brown have both been named second-team Freshman All-American by Baseball America for their stellar rookie campaigns in 2008.

Colon was the only Titan to start all 63 games for the Titans posting a .329 batting average while playing shortstop. The freshman from Corona, Calif., also showed signs of power, hitting four home runs while driving in 39 from the No. 2 spot in the Fullerton lineup. He finished third in the nation in sacrifice bunts by giving himself up 21 times and played a played shortstop like a seasoned veteran in just his first year.

Colon is currently playing with the unbeaten US National Team (5-0) that is playing Chinese-Taipei in Durham, North Carolina, before heading to the Netherlands for Haarlem Baseball Week and the Chzech Republic for the FISU World Championships in July.

Brown led the Titans in stolen bases with 25, breaking the freshman mark set by Dante Powell in 1992. The Diamond Bar, Calif. native started off slow, playing both second base and leftfield, but settled in when he became the Titans everyday leftfielder. He finished hitting .292 with five home runs and 27 RBI and was named an All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention prior to the Fullerton Regional.

Brown is currently playing summer ball in the Cape Cod League for the Orleans Cardinals in Orleans, Massachusetts.

Both Brown and Colon also earned Freshman All-American recognition by Collegiate Baseball during the College World Series.

Baseball America also released its final college baseball poll of the year where the Titans dropped from the No. 6 spot to finish No. 10 in the country, one ahead of Big West rival UC Irvine. Long Beach State finished No. 25.