May. 08– The Concordia University baseball team landed five players on the 2008 NSIC Baseball All-Conference Team, as voted on by league coaches. Senior Joe Abellera (Minnetonka, Minn.) was named the 2008 NSIC Newcomer of the Year, as well while the Golden Bears were also represented by one all-NSIC second team selection.

The five first team selections were, junior pitcher Jake Schmidt (Oakdale, Minn.), junior catcher Chris Herbert (White Bear Lake, Minn.), senior second baseman Jake Waldman (Minnetonka, Minn.) and two outfielders, junior Brenden Furrow (Johnston, Iowa) and Abellera. Junior third baseman Zane Froelich (Sioux Falls, S.D.) was the lone second team selection for the Golden Bears.

Abellera is hitting .401, fifth in the league, with the second-best slugging pct. of .796, is tied for second with Herbert with 12 home runs and third in total bases. He has been CU's leadoff hitter all season, while playing primarily centerfield with the versatility to cover shortstop and third base regularly. Abellera is in his first season playing for the Golden Bears after spending time with the Minnesota Twins organization.

Schmidt improved to 6-0 while tying the school single season strikeout record of 78 in his last start against Northern State. He has a 3.05 earned run average, has walked only 10 batters in 56 innings while holding hitters to a .215 avg. At the plate, he is riding a seven game hitting streak, raising his average to .309 and has four home runs, 21 RBI and is slugging .531. Last week he hit a walk-off home run in an 8-7 win over Winona State. He is a three-time NSIC Pitcher of the Week.

Herbert's 10 NSIC home runs were just one shy of the home run crown, which was captured by Northern State's Adam Kampsen, the NSIC Player of the Year. Herbert is also tied for the overall home run lead for CU with 12, which is second in the league in all games played and two off the school record. Herbert is hitting .348 with 32 RBI and a .730 slugging pct. on the season. He homered four times in the final week of the season.

Waldman repeats as the first team all-conference second baseman, hitting .379 with seven home runs, 36 runs scored, a .456 on base pct. and a .629 slugging pct. His 10 doubles were third on the team and he drew 19 walks, two hit by pitch, had four sacrifice flies and a sacrifice bunt while striking out just 20 times in 124 at bats.

Furrow started the season on a tear, hitting safely in the first 19 games of the year to extend his hitting streak to 21 games. He led the league in hitting (all games) with a .446 batting average while ranking third in slugging (.785), fourth in on base pct. (.493), fifth in hits (58), fourth in RBI (46) and fifth in home runs (10). His 14 doubles tied for the team lead, as did his 43 runs scored. He has yet to commit an error in 55 chances with one outfield assist.

Froelich hit .316 in his first season with Concordia before his season ended unexpectadly after being hit by a pitch against Wayne State at the Metrodome. Froelich displayed power potential for CU, hitting three home runs while driving in 21 runs in 32 games, scoring 24 times. He had six doubles, a triple and a .490 slugging pct. but his plate discipline may have been even more impressive, with 17 walks and just 13 strikeouts.