Gerber on All-Pacific-10 baseball team
May 25, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State first baseman Joe Gerber has been named to the All-Pacific-10 Conference baseball team. Gerber (Portland, Ore./Grant High), a junior, was part of the 20-man team selected by the conferences coaches.
Beaver senior second baseman Corrie Willkie (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo High, Saddleback Junior College) and junior righthanded pitcher B.R. Cook (Salem, Ore./Sprague High) both earned honorable mention. Arizona State junior shortstop Willie Bloomquist was the Pacific-10 Player of the Year, Southern California junior lefthander Barry Zito was Pitcher of the Year and Stanfords Mark Marquess was Coach of the Year.
This was Gerbers second all-league honor; in 1998, he was first team All-Northern Division at designated hitter. Willkie and Cook were first-time honorees.
Gerber put together one of the best offensive seasons in Oregon State history in 1999, batting .387 with 13 homers and 57 runs batted in. Gerber set a school record for total bases in a season with 128 and his 1999 numbers also rated on OSUs single-season lists in hits (74, second), RBIs (57, fourth), slugging percentage (.670, fourth), home runs (13, tied for fourth), batting average (.387, sixth) and doubles (15, tied for eighth).
Among Pacific-10 regular-season leaders, Gerber was fifth in fielding percentage (.995), sixth in batting average and on-base percentage (.473) and seventh in slugging percentage. In Pacific-10 play, he batted .398 with nine homers, eight doubles, 31 RBIs and a .790 slugging percentage.
This spring, Gerber had a career-best 21-game hitting streak from March 28-May 7 during which he batted .494 (43-for-87) with nine doubles, nine homers, 38 RBIs, 27 runs scored, 13 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games. Gerber also did not commit an error during his final 42 games of the season and turned in numerous outstanding defensive plays.
Gerber tied the school record for hits in a game when he had five against Washington on April 14 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. He finished the spring with 21 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games, and Gerber had at least one hit in 39 of the 51 games in which he played.
Willkie batted .322 with one homer, 14 doubles and 25 runs batted in. He had at least one hit in 40 of the 52 games in which he played, including 20 multi-hit games. Willkie finished the season with an eight-game hitting streak during which he batted .485, and over his last 26 games he hit .346. Cook finished the season with a 6-9 record and 5.44 earned run average; in 101 innings, he allowed 97 hits and 48 walks while striking out 92. Cook was twice named Pacific-10 Pitcher of the Week, and he was one of three national Players of the Week after he one-hit nationally-ranked Oklahoma State in a 1-0 win on Feb. 18.
1999 ALL-PACIFIC-10 BASEBALL TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Willie Bloomquist, SS, jr., ASU. PITCHER OF THE YEAR - Barry Zito, jr., USC. COACH OF THE YEAR - Mark Marquess, SU.
INFIELDERS - Garrett Atkins, so., UCLA; Andrew Beinbrink, sr., ASU; Dominic Correa, sr., USC; Seth Davidson, so., USC; Keoni DeRenne, so., UA; John Gall, jr., SU; Joe Gerber, jr., OSU; Ray Hattenburg, jr., WSU; Josh Hochgesang, sr., SU; Xavier Nady, so., UC; Chase Utley, so., UCLA. OUTFIELDERS - Joe Borchard, so. SU; Greg Hanoian, sr., USC; Jason Lane, sr., USC; Bill Scott, so., UCLA; Bryan Williamson, sr., UW. PITCHERS - Jeff Heaverlo, jr., UW; Jason Young, so., SU. CATCHERS - Mike Tonis, so., UC; Dominic Woody, jr., UW.
1999 ALL-PACIFIC-10 BASEBALL HONORABLE MENTION (Oregon State selections)
INFIELDER - Corrie Willkie, sr. PITCHER - B.R. Cook, jr.
