PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR: ALBERTO RIOS, STANFORD
PAC-12 PITCHER OF THE YEAR: QUINN MATHEWS, STANFORD
PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: MALCOLM MOORE, STANFORD
PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: NIK MCCLAUGHRY, ARIZONA
PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR: DAVID ESQUER, STANFORD
PAC-12 BATTING CHAMPION: TOMMY TROY, STANFORD

SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference announced today the baseball postseason honors, All-Conference and All-Defensive teams for the 2023 season, as determined by a polling of the league’s coaches. Stanford's Alberto Rios was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year, while Cardinal ace Quinn Mathews was voted Pitcher of the Year and catcher Malcolm Moore was tabbed the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Their head coach David Esquer was voted the back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year as Stanford collected the pitcher, freshman and coach honors for a second consecutive season. Arizona's Nik McClaughry was tabbed Pac-12 Defensive of the Year, while Stanford's Tommy Troy captured the Pac-12 Batting Title on the final day of regular season, finishing with a league-leading .404 batting average.

PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alberto Rios, Jr., C/OF, Stanford (Bellflower, Calif.) 
Rios had a breakout year for the 2023 Pac-12 Champions. After appearing in only seven games as a pinch-hitter last spring, the junior started 49 of 50 games played primarily in the outfield and became a powerhouse at the plate for the Cardinal. His .400 batting average ranked third in the conference and top-30 in the nation, while he was top-five in the league in slugging percentage (2nd, .742), on-base percentage (3rd, .504), RBI (2nd, 63), hits (4th, 76) and home runs (5th, 16). The Bellflower, Calif., native collected 21 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games and is riding a 15-game hitting streak heading into postseason play. Twice this year, Rios drove in nine runs or more in a game, with his 11 RBI in Stanford's 24-9 victory over CSU Bakersfield on March 5 setting a new Cardinal record and matching the Pac-12 record that was set by UCLA's Bill Scott vs. Washington in 1999. Rios earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks on May 8 and May 15 and was the only conference player to earn the award more than once in 2023. Rios is just the third Cardinal to earn the Player of the Year award since 1999 and the first since Jed Lowrie picked up the nod in 2004.

PAC-12 PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Quinn Mathews, Sr., LHP, Stanford (Aliso Viejo, Calif.)
Electing to return to Stanford for his senior season after begin drafted in the 19th round of the 2022 MLB draft, Matthews was rewarded with the league's top pitching award. The Preseason All-American was key to the Cardinal's second straight Pac-12 title run, going 7-3 this season with a 3.20 ERA in 98.1 innings pitched. The lefty has 121 strikeouts, which is the best in the Pac-12 and ranks third in the country, and enters the postseason third in the league in ERA and opponent batting average (.225) and leads all Pac-12 pitchers in innings pitched. He has lasted 5-plus innings in every start this season and has gone at least 7.0 in his last nine straight starts. In Pac-12 play alone, Mathews pitched into the seventh in nine of 11 outings, which included a complete-game effort against Washington an April 21st. During one stretch this season, the Aliso Viejo, Calif. native struck out 10 batters or more in six consecutive outings from March 31 - May 5 and walked just eight. He also earned a Collegiate Baseball Pitcher of the Week honor on April 10 after striking out 13 in a win over California on April 6, matching his career high. Mathews is the third straight Stanford hurler to earn the honor, joining Alex Williams (2022) and Brendan Beck (2021).

PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Malcolm Moore, Fr., C/1B, Stanford (Sacramento, Calif.) 
It's no surprise the two-time California High School Gatorade Player of the Year had no issues adjusting to the college game. Moore started all 51 games for the 2023 Champions in his first season on The Farm and quickly became one of the top offensive threats in the league. He recorded a .300 batting average, one of three in the league to hit .300 or better, and was the top freshman in the Pac-12 in homers (12) and RBIs (12). His 14 multi-RBI games ranks second on the team behind only Alberto Rios, while his 19 multi-hit games is sixth-best among Cardinal hitters. Moore will put his nine-game winning streak on the line when Stanford's postseason run begins this week in Scottsdale. This marks two consecutive years a Stanford freshman collects the nod after standout sophomore Braden Montgomery was honored in 2022.

PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nik McClaughry, Sr., SS, Arizona (Rocklin, Calif.) 
A semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List given annually to the nation's best shortstop, McClaughry has been near-perfect as the Wildcats' everyday starter in a key infield spot. He boasts an impressive .983 fielding percentage on 225 chances, with his 162 assists leading all Pac-12 defensive players. His four total errors are fewest among Pac-12 players with 100-plus defensive assists, while he has been involved in 23 of Arizona's 40 double plays this year. The senior from Rocklin, Calif. was even better against Pac-12 opponents, committing just two errors in 133 chances. McClaughry is the first Wildcat to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors since the award was introduced in 2013.

PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR: David Esquer, Stanford 
The Cardinal's skipper picks up his second consecutive Coach of the Year honor and third at Stanford, while it is his fourth overall after her earned the award as California's head coach in 2001. Esquer's first at Stanford came in his first year on the Farm in 2018. Stanford, the preseason pick to win the Pac-12, didn't miss a beat after having to replace a plethora of draft picks off of back-to-back College World Series teams. His club won seven of its final eight conference series and seems to be peaking at the right time, winning 10 of its last 11 during the regular season en route to a second straight Pac-12 title and the No. 1 seed at the Pac-12 Tournament. The 2023 regular season championship is the third for Stanford under Esquer, while it marks the first time the Cardinal have won the league crown in consecutive years since 2003 and 2004. 

PAC-12 BATTING CHAMPION: Tommy Troy, Jr., 3B, Stanford (Los Gatos, Calif.) 
It took until the final game of the regular season, but Tommy Troy is the Pac-12 Batting Champion for 2023 after finishing the regular season with a .404 average. The junior went 4-for-4 with a double and five runs scored in a 15-5 win to clinch the series sweep over Washington State in Pullman, with his infield in the ninth inning pushing him over the edge for the top average in the league. This is the second straight year a Cardinal has garnered the batting title after Brett Barrera was the batting average king a year ago.

2023 PAC-12 BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

Honorable Mention: Jonah Advincula, Washington State; Drew Bowser, Stanford; Ryan Brown, Oregon State; Tony Bullard, Arizona; Garrett Clarke, USC; Tj Clarkson, Utah; Wyatt Crenshaw, Arizona State; Owen Cobb, Stanford; Nu'U Contrades, Arizona State; Cody Delvecchio, UCLA; Joey Dixon, Stanford; Drew Dowd, Stanford; Ross Dunn, Arizona State; Josh Emanuels, Washington; Mason Guerra, Oregon State; AJ Guerrero, Washington; Elijah Hainline, Washington State; Charles Harrison, UCLA; Dakota Hawkins, Washington State; Luke Hill, Arizona State; Jack Holman, UCLA; Caleb Lomavita, California; Kiefer Lord, Washington; Case Matter, Washington; Zac McCleve, Utah; Micah McDowell, Oregon State; Nick Mclain, Arizona State; Josh Mollerus, Oregon; Malcolm Moore, Stanford; Coby Morales, Washington; Rikuu Nishida, Oregon; Johnny Olmstead, USC; Eddie Park, Stanford; Paulshawn Pasqualotto, California; Trent Sellers, Oregon State; Colby Shade, Oregon; Tanner Smith, Oregon; Blake Sodersten, USC; Jacob Tobias, Arizona State; Kyle Wisch, USC.

2023 PAC-12 BASEBALL ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM