den Dekker Named To Baseball America's Preseason All-America Team

Florida junior center fielder Matt den Dekker (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was named to Baseball America's Preseason All-America team released on Monday. The Gators are set to kick off their season against No. 8 Louisville on Friday night at McKethan Stadium.

Last summer, den Dekker was a member of the 2008 U.S. National Team that was a perfect 24-0 and captured the gold medal at the FISU World Championships in the Czech Republic. On the strength of a .351 batting average in league play, he earned first-team All-SEC recognition after collecting All-Freshman kudos in 2007. He was 12-for-12 on stolen-base attempts and ranked second on the Gators with 24 RBI in the 30 league contests. The center fielder was also named to the league's All-Defensive Team after committing just one error in 161 overall chances, with five assists, over 55 games.

den Dekker hit .333 overall with career highs in runs (55), RBI (48), doubles (nine), homers (eight), and triples (two). He was a perfect 20-for-20 on stolen-base attempts and had a pair of 13-game hitting streaks during the spring. den Dekker was the lone Gator selected to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional All-Tournament squad after going 3-for-4 with three runs in UF's 17-11 setback to Florida State.

San Diego State right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who was the only amateur to earn a spot on USA Baseball's 2008 Olympic baseball team, led Baseball America's college preseason All-America teams.

Baseball America annually polls major league scouting directors to vote on the team and make their selections based on performance, talent and professional potential. In the past, the preseason All-America team has been a predictor both of the first round of the draft and of team success. For example, members of the 2008 first team made up eight of the first 12 picks in the Major League Draft last June. In all, 15 of last year's preseason All-Americans were drafted in the first round, and 11 of them played for teams that reached the College World Series.

North Carolina teammates Dustin Ackley and Alex White are the only repeat preseason All-Americans. Both moved up from last year's third team to this year's first team. Ackley, Strasburg, Southern California shortstop Grant Green and Tennessee outfielder Kentrail Davis received votes on every scouting director's ballot. Strasburg and Green were unanimous first-team selections. Davis and Alabama second baseman Ross Wilson are the only sophomores on the otherwise junior-dominated first team.

UNC, which opens the year ranked third in the nation, and second-ranked LSU lead all schools with four All-Americans apiece. Second-teamers Kyle Seager and Matt Harvey join Ackley and White among North Carolina's contingent, while LSU is represented by second-teamers Ryan Schimpf and Blake Dean and third-teamers Jared Mitchell and D.J. LeMahieu. No other school has more than two All-Americans.

The Southeastern Conference placed 10 players on the three All-America teams, most of any league. The Atlantic Coast and Pacific-10 conferences were next with eight selections apiece. Four Pac-10 players landed on the first-team, which was twice as many as any other conference. Notably, Conference USA failed to land a player on any of the three teams for the first time since 1999.

2009 Baseball America Preseason All-America Teams

(As selected by Major League scouting directors)

First Team
Pos. Name, School	Cl.	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
C Josh Phegley, Indiana	Jr.	.438	.507	.746	224	69	98	15	80	2
1B Dustin Ackley, North Carolina	Jr.	.417	.503	.597	278	82	116	7	51	19
2B Ross Wilson, Alabama	So.	.295	.355	.543	258	60	76	15	47	9
3B Tom Mendonca, Fresno State	So.	.281	.359	.508	295	48	83	19	70	6
SS Grant Green, Southern Cal	Jr.	.390	.438	.644	205	46	80	9	46	10
OF Kentrail Davis, Tennessee	So.	.330	.435	.583	206	45	68	13	44	7
OF A.J. Pollock, Notre Dame	Jr.	.352	.414	.505	216	49	76	4	42	28
OF Brett Jackson, California	Jr.	.307	.404	.441	202	36	62	4	40	12
DH Chris Dominguez, Louisville	Jr.	.365	.427	.687	249	68	91	21	75	11
UT Mike Leake, Arizona State	Jr.	.340	.500	.574	47	16	16	2	11	2
Pitching: 11-3 record, 3.49 ERA, 19 G, 1 SV, 121 IP, 118 H, 20 BB, 104 SO, .254 AVG

Pitchers
Name, School	Cl.	W-L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	AVG
SP Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State	Jr.	8-3	1.57	13	0	97	61	16	133	.181
SP Alex White, North Carolina	Jr.	13-3	2.83	20	0	102	78	42	113	.215
SP Kyle Gibson, Missouri	Jr.	9-4	3.84	19	2	87	86	23	96	.254
SP Kendal Volz, Baylor	Jr.	3-6	4.20	12	0	71	75	28	85	.273
RP Jason Stoffel, Arizona	Jr.	4-2	3.00	34	13	48	34	15	79	.198

Second Team
Pos. Name, School	Cl.	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
C Tyler Coleman, Missouri	Jr.	.295	.417	.416	190	39	56	4	35	0
1B Rich Poythress, Georgia	Jr.	.374	.461	.626	265	64	99	15	75	4
2B Ryan Schimpf, LSU	Jr.	.320	.416	.592	250	57	80	12	54	16
3B Kyle Seager, North Carolina	Jr.	.347	.421	.597	268	62	93	9	75	5
SS Ryan Jackson, Miami (Fla.)	Jr.	.360	.422	.496	242	49	87	4	50	10
OF Matt den Dekker, FLORIDA	Jr.	.333	.419	.507	213	55	71	8	48	20
OF Blake Dean, LSU	Jr.	.353	.432	.665	269	62	95	20	73	4
OF Jason Kipnis, Arizona State	Jr.	.371	.486	.667	237	76	88	14	73	24
DH Derek Dietrich, Georgia Tech	So.	.332	.410	.592	238	53	79	14	66	3
UT Blake Smith, California	Jr.	.296	.360	.553	199	36	59	12	43	6
Pitching: 3-0 record, 3.80 ERA, 16 G, 21 IP, 20 H, 11 BB, 36 SO, .235 AVG

Pitchers
Name, School	Cl.	W-L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	AVG
SP Andrew Oliver, Oklahoma State	Jr.	7-2	2.20	15	0	98	72	36	96	.211
SP Mike Minor, Vanderbilt	Jr.	7-3	4.28	15	0	103	99	28	101	.261
SP Matt Harvey, North Carolina	So.	7-2	2.79	19	0	68	52	47	80	.214
SP Kyle Heckathorn, Kennesaw State	Jr.	4-2	4.98	13	0	60	64	22	64	.269
RP Scott Bittle, Ole Miss	Sr.	7-1	1.78	27	8	71	35	30	130	.145

Third Team
Pos. Name, School	Cl.	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
C Ryan Ortiz, Oregon State	Jr.	.351	.442	.527	188	33	66	5	55	1
1B Ben Paulsen, Clemson	Jr.	.310	.393	.571	226	46	70	13	49	1
2B Dallas Poulk, NC State	Jr.	.286	.370	.446	231	37	66	8	33	6
3B Victor Sanchez, San Diego	So.	.268	.346	.495	220	47	59	12	47	5
SS Christian Colon, CS-Fullerton	So.	.329	.406	.444	243	59	80	4	39	13
OF Tim Wheeler, CS-Sacramento	Jr.	.330	.377	.436	218	38	72	3	43	10
OF Jared Mitchell, LSU	Jr.	.297	.363	.469	175	44	52	6	29	16
OF Marc Krauss, Ohio	Jr.	.332	.448	.568	229	62	76	10	54	5
DH D.J. LeMahieu, LSU	So.	.337	.386	.457	258	56	87	6	44	10
UT Aaron Miller, Baylor	Jr.	.295	.425	.562	210	41	62	12	45	0
Pitching: 1-1 record, 14.40 ERA, 6 G, 5 IP, 12 H, 4 BB, 8 SO, .462 AVG

Pitchers
Name, School	Cl.	W-L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	AVG
SP Ben Tootle, Jacksonville State	Jr.	10-2	3.87	15	0	86	87	29	79	.264
SP Jeff Inman, Stanford	Jr.	7-2	4.27	16	0	72	86	29	45	.305
SP Brad Boxberger, Southern Cal	Jr.	2-4	6.12	18	3	50	54	26	52	.280
SP Alex McRee, Georgia	Jr.	7-1	3.98	31	0	61	57	31	65	.247
RP Joe Kelly, UC Riverside	So.	2-1	9.35	17	6	17	24	10	8	.312

-UF-

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