Jan. 9, 2008
WACO, Texas -- Baylor senior Nick Cassavechia and junior Beamer Weems added preseason honors Wednesday as the pair were named Preseason All-America by PingBaseball.com. Cassavechia was one of 12 pitchers and four relievers named first team, while Weems was one of two second-team selections at shortstop.
This is the second year that PingBaseball.com has named a preseason All-American team. The outlet named Baylor's Raynor Campbell honorable mention Freshman All-America last season.
Cassavechia, who has served as Baylor's closer each of the past two seasons, was 6-2 with 11 saves and a 3.12 ERA last season. He established a single-season school record for strikeouts in relief with 72 against only 20 walks in 52.0 innings of work. Cassavechia tied for second in the Big 12 Conference and 23rd nationally in saves last season. His 2007 saves total is tied for fifth-best nationally among returning players.
A product of St. Mark's High School in Dallas, Texas, Cassavechia was a second-team All-Big 12 pick by the Waco Tribune Herald and was named honorable mention all-conference by the league's coaches. He enters the 2008 season with a 9-6 career record, a 3.36 career ERA and 19 career saves, tied for second in school history.
Other relievers on the All-Ping first team were Cole St. Clair (Rice), Danny Farquhar (Louisiana-Lafayette) and Pat Venditte (Creighton).
A two-time All-Big 12 Conference honoree and a unanimous first-team all-league pick last season, Weems hit .321 and shared the team lead with nine home runs in 2007; he also led Baylor with 17 doubles, 59 RBI, 125 total bases and 35 walks last season. He was even stronger in Big 12 play, hitting .361 with five home runs, 27 RBI, seven doubles, three triples, a .649 slugging percentage and a .438 on base percentage in 24 games.
Weems, a product of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Va., has committed only 22 errors in 110 career starts at shortstop with only six fielding errors (others were throwing errors).
Vanderbilt's Ryan Flaherty was the first-team shortstop; Weems was joined on the second team by Virginia's Greg Miclat.
Baylor opens its 2008 season Feb. 22-24, hosting Purdue for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark.
