July 14, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame sophomore third baseman Brant Ust (Redmond, Wash.) has earned his second All-America honor for the 1998 season, as a third-team choice by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Ust earlier was recognized as a third team All-American by Baseball America magazine.

Ust also was named first team All-Mideast by the ABCA while Notre Dame freshman righthander Aaron Heilman (Logansport, Ind.) was named the first team relief pitcher for the All-Mideast Region team.

Ust is the fifth Notre Dame player named to the ABCA All-America team, in the awards’ 50-year history. He is the third Notre Dame player named All-America by both the ABCA and BA, joining 1989 junior outfielder Dan Peltier (1st team ABCA, 1st team BA) and 1993 senior outfielder Eric Danapilis, who remains the only Notre Dame baseball player ever named All-America by the ABCA, BA and Collegiate Baseball magazine (he was a first-team selection by all three programs).

Catcher Elmer Kohorst was a first-team ABCA All-American as a junior in 1956 and again in ’57 while 1995 junior outfielder Ryan Topham was a third team ABCA All-America selection.

Ust is one of 10 sophomores among the 53 players named to the ABCA first, second of third team All-America squads, with six of those players among Ust’s current teammates on the current USA national team: Miami RHP Alex Santos (1st team), Texas Tech C Josh Bard (1st team), Arizona State utility player Willie Bloomquist (2nd team), Texas A&M LHP Casey Fossum (3rd team), LSU C Brad Cresse (3rd team) and Miami SS Bobby Hill (3rd team). No freshmen were named to the ABCA All-America teams.

Ust is one of three sophomore on the first team All-Mideast Region squad while Heilman is the only freshman.

The BIG EAST Conference was well-represented among the ABCA All-America teams, as three conference players joined Ust among the third team position players: Providence senior catcher Scott Friedholm, St. John’s sophomore third baseman Mike Dzurilla and West Virginia senior outfielder Joe McNamee.

Heilman previously was named a third team All-American and national co-freshman of the year by CB (the program’s first national freshman of the year recipient) while BA named Heilman to its first team Freshman All-America squad. Ust and Heilman are the first Notre Dame teammates named All-America in the same season and the program’s first sophomore and freshman, respectively, to earn All-America honors.

A first team All-BIG EAST second baseman and BIG EAST rookie of the year in 1997, Ust returned to capture the 1998 BIG EAST player of the year award. He led the BIG EAST in 19 conference games with the highest BIG EAST batting avg. during the 1990s (.493). Ust also led the BIG EAST in conference slugging pct. (.960) and on-base pct. (.530) while tying for second with eight BIG EAST home runs and ranking seventh with 26 conference RBI. He hit .373 overall (81-for-217) and ranked among the leaders in the following BIG EAST categories for all games: first in home runs (18), fourth in doubles (20), fourth in hits (81), sixth in RBI (58) and 10th in runs (55).

Ust’s .724 overall season slugging pct. ranks sixth in Irish history and is best since Topham’s .733 in 1995. His 18 home runs tied with Tim Hutson (’88) and Topham (’95) for second-most ever in a season at Notre Dame, behind Frank Jacobs’ 20 in 1991. Ust’s 20 doubles in 1998 are tied for seventh in the Irish single-season record book. His .373 career batting avg. at Notre Dame ranks third in Irish history (he hit .372 as a freshman) while his 29 career home runs already are tied for sixth on the Irish all-time list (seior-to-be Jeff Wagner holds the record, with 41).

Heilman’s dominating 1998 season included an NCAA-best 1.61 ERA, nine saves and a 7-3 record. His 1.61 ERA ranks eighth in Notre Dame history and is third-best in the last 20 years, trailing only David Sinnes’ nation-leading effort in 1990 (1.05) and Mark Clementz’ 1.50 in 1982. The 6-4, 200-pound reliever fashioned a 33-inning shutout streak over 19 appearances during the middle of the 1998 season. He finished second on the team in victories (7-3) while his team-leading nine saves rank second in Irish history behind Mike Coffey’s 10 in the 68-game ’89 season (the Irish played 58 games in ’98, going 41-17). . Heilman also led the Irish staff with a .198 opponent batting avg., second only to Sinnes’ 1992 mark (.163) among Irish pitchers during the past eight seasons (stat not kept prior to ’91).

All but one of Heilman’s 31 appearances came in relief while he finished 26 of those 30 stints, allowing earned runs in only four relief outings. Heilman’s 31 appearances trail only Coffey’s 37 (’89) in the Irish record book while his 78 strikeouts in 67 innings rank 12th all-time at Notre Dame. He also led the ’98 Irish staff with 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (19 total walks).

ABCA 1998 All-America Teams

First Team: Alex Santos (RHP, Miami, So., 14-1, 2.74, 102 IP, 134 K), Shane Wright (RHP, Texas Tech, Jr., 14-1, 2.71, 152 IP, 116 K), Mike Fischer (RHP, South Alabama, Jr., 11-1, 2.32, 124 IP, 120 K), Seth Etherton (RHP, USC, Sr., 12-3, 2.86, 122 IP, 162 K), Jack Krawczyk (RH reliever, USC, Sr., 2-2, 21 SV, 1.71), Brandon Inge (utility, RHP/SS, Virginia Commonwealth, Jr., 4-2, 11 SV, 2.41, .333, 13 HR, 57 RBI), Josh Bard (C, Texas Tech, So., .383, 17 HR, 71 RBI), Eddy Furniss (1B, LSU, Sr., .398, 25 HR, 67 RBI), Jeff Pickler (2B, Tennessee, Sr., .445, 7 HR, 61 RBI, 25 SB), (Damon Thames, SS, Rice, Jr., .424, 26 HR, 115 RBI), Bo Robinson (3B, UNC-Charlotte, Sr., .421, 19 HR, 86 RBI), Pat Magness (DH, Wichita State, So., .464, 21 HR, 100 RBI), Kevin Mench (OF, Delaware, So., .464, 31 HR, 68 RBI), Brian Cox (OF, Florida State, Sr., .398, 18 HR, 84 RBI, 27 SB), Jeff Ryan (OF, Wichita State, Jr., .441, 23 HR, 105 RBI, 31 SB), Bubba Crosby (OF, Rice, Jr., .394, 25 HR, 91 RBI).

Second Team: Matt Burch (RHP, Virginia Commonwealth, Jr., 12-2, 2.51, 122 IP, 114 K), Jeff Austin (RHP, Stanford, Jr., 12-4, 3.11, 133 IP, 135 K), Josh Bobbitt (LHP, Tulane, Sr., 12-1, 3.09, 110 IP, 128 K), Jeff Weaver (RHP, Fresno State, Jr., 10-4, 2.98, 123 IP, 156 K), Josh Fogg (RH reliever Florida, Jr., 6-2, 12 SV, 1.38), Willie Bloomquist (utility, Arizona State, So., .413, 3 HR, 56 RBI, 33 SB), Sammy Serrano (C, Stetson, Jr., .463, 12 HR, 63 RBI), Aubrey Huff (1B, Miami, Jr., .414, 20 HR, 93 RBI), Joe McCullough (2B, Monmouth, Sr., .426, 12 HR, 77 RBI), Zach Sorenson (SS, Wichita State, Jr., .424, 17 HR, 94 RBI, 22 SB), Royce Huffman (TCU, 3B, Jr., .420, 17 HR, 77 RBI), Justin Hemme (DH, SW Louisiana, Sr., .376, 16 HR, 55 RBI), James Matan (OF, UNC-Charlotte, Sr., .408, 27 HR, 95 RBI), Craig Selander (OF, Minnesota, Jr., .382, 22 HR, 75 RBI), Jason Tyner (OF, Texas A&M, Jr., .385, 31 RBI, 39 SB), Juan Pierre (OF, South Alabama, Jr., .373, 5 HR, 40 RBI, 54 SB).

Third Team: Nate Bump (RHP, Penn State, Sr., 7-3, 2.62, 106 IP, 135 K), Brett Weber (RHP, Illinois, Sr., 10-3, 3.11, 107 IP, 99 K), Kip Wells (RHP, Baylor, Jr., 13-4, 3.71, 123 IP, 135 K), Casey Fossum (LHP, Texas A&M, So., 12-2, 3.74, 122 IP, 129 K), Scott Clackum (RH reliever, Clemson, Sr., 7-1, 9 SV, 1.11), Marc Bluma (RH reliever, Wichita State, Jr., 5-0, 11 SV, 1.74), Dan Seimetz (utility, Ohio State, Sr., .371, 15 HR, 46 RBI), Scott Friedholm (C, Providence, Sr., .395, 13 HR, 66 RBI), Brad Cresse (C, LSU, So., .313, 22 HR, 72 RBI), Charlie Carter (1B, Baylor, Sr., .402, 21 HR, 86 RBI), Muchie Dagliere (2B, UMass, Sr., .444, 49 RBI, 4 K, .963 fielding pct.), Keith Ginter (2B, Texas Tech, Sr., .371, 17 HR, 55 RBI, 27 SB), Bobby Hill (SS, Miami, So., .413, 12 HR, 58 RBI, 46 SB), Ryan Anholt (SS, NW Louisiana, Jr., .417, 15 HR, 71 RBI), Mike Dzurilla (3B, St. John’s, So., .427, 9 HR, 49 RBI, 20 SB), Brant Ust (3B, Notre Dame, So., .373, 18 HR, 58 RBI), Cliff Wrenn (DH, Southern Mississippi, Jr., .387, 12 HR, 58 RBI), Joe McNamee (OF, Sr., West Virginia, .429, 13 HR, 66 RBI), Shayne Carnes (OF, Alabama-Birmingham, Sr., .417, 23 HR, 87 RBI), Sonny Cortez (OF, Tennessee, Sr., .387, 24 HR, 87 RBI), Ryan Fry (OF, Missouri, Sr., .377, 27 HR, 78 RBI), Eric Valent (OF, UCLA, Jr., .336, 30 HR, 73 RBI).

ABCA 1998 All-Mideast Region

First Team: Robb Quinlan (1B, Minnesota, Jr.), D.J. Svihlik (2B, Illinois, So.), Brant Ust (3B, Notre Dame, So.), Brian Dorrmann (SS, Ball State, Sr.), Ryan Fleming (OF, Dayton, Sr.), Mike Lockwood (OF, Ohio State, So.), Craig Selander (OF, Minnesota, Jr.), Justin Beasley (C, Butler, Sr.), Dan Seimetz (DH, Ohio State, Sr.), Nate Bump (P, Penn State, Sr.), John Stewart (P, Western Michigan, Jr.), Brett Weber (P, Illinois, Sr.), Aaron Heilman (relief P, Notre Dame, Fr.).

Second Team: Tom Keumpel (1B, Marshall, Sr.), Jess Bechard (2B, Kent State), Craig Marquie (3B, Illinois, So.), Mark Carek (SS, Ohio State, Sr.), Larry Bigbie (OF, Ball State, So.), Bart Leahy (OF, Ohio, Sr.), Dan Rhodes (OF, Illinois, Sr.), John Sullivan (OF, Miami, Sr.), Jason Trott (OF, Ohio State, Jr.), Ben Eversole (C, Miami, Sr.), Derek Ottevaere (DH, Western Michigan, Jr.), Ryan Harber (P, Butler, Jr.), Jeff Hundley (P, Bowling Green, Jr.), Mark Mulder (P, Michigan State, Jr.), Jim Journell (RH reliever, Illinois, So.).