June 14, 2010
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Already the ninth LMU player to garner a West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year selection, Matt Lowenstein most recently garnered his second Freshman All-American bid, earning a spot on Ping!Baseball's second team Freshman All-American list on Monday. His first All-American selection came last week, as he earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team. Lowenstein, who also garnered All-WCC honorable mention accolades and a spot on the WCC All-Freshman team, is the 13th Lion player to be named a Freshman All-American, and the first since Angelo Songco in 2007.
Lowenstein seemingly had no trouble with the transition from high school into Division I baseball in 2010. The left-handed hitter, who hit safely in each of the last 16 games of the year, batted .344 with 32 runs scored, 15 doubles, four triples, a homer and 30 RBI in his inaugural season. Playing in the outfield to start, before moving to first base toward the end of the season, Lowenstein started 43 of LMU's 56 games this year, appearing in 47 overall. Lowenstein finished the season first on the squad in on-base percentage (.419) and was second in batting average (.344), triples (4), doubles (15) and stolen bases (5).
The native of Chino Hills, Calif. amassed 15 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games. A season-best four hits came when he finished 4-for-4 with four doubles, a run scored and a RBI against Albany on March 27. The four doubles matched a program record set by Joe Ciccarella on February 23, 1991 against San Francisco. He twice collected a high-water mark of three RBI this year, first on May 2 versus Saint Mary's when he finished a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored, a double, two walks and the three driven in. He matched the feat in the final game of the year against Santa Clara on May 30. His lone home run this year came on May 14 against Pepperdine.
In WCC games alone, Lowenstein hit .325 with 15 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, a home run and 13 RBI. In conference play, his 13 RBI tied him for third most among freshmen, while he led all WCC rookies in total bases (39), while tying for second in hits (26) and runs.
In all, Lowenstein hit safely in 36 of his 46 games with an at bat this year.
