June 10, 2009
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The University of San Diego baseball team had three players drafted on the second day of the Major League Baseball draft. Junior right-handed pitcher Matt Thomson was taken in the 12th round by the Detroit Tigers, redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Casey Schmidt was drafted in the 15th round by the New York Mets, and senior shortstop Sean Nicol was drafted in the 16th round by the Washington Nationals.
Thomson, a 6-4 junior from Santa Rosa, Calif., finished the season with a 5-5 record, led the team with 88 strikeouts and posted a 5.98 ERA. Thomson took home one West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week honor after tossing a complete-game two hit shutout against Pepperdine University on March 28.
Schmidt, a 6-3 redshirt sophomore transfer from Creighton University, did not play a single inning for the Toreros this season due to NCAA transfer rules. While at Creighton, Schmidt Earned Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball after going 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA in the 2007 season, then sat out the 2008 season with an injury before transferring to USD this past season.
Nicol, a 5-11 senior from Scottsdale, Ariz., finished up his Torero career with a bang in 2009, as he hit .323 in WCC games with 30 hits, 10 doubles, six home runs and 20 RBI. He was named the WCC Player of the Week one this season. Nicol was not only solid at the plate in WCC action, but he also helped lead the USD offense overall, as he hit .359 with 79 hits, led the team in doubles with 19, had two triples, a team-best eight home runs and 39 RBI.
