Rutgers Quartet Honored By New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association
May 21 | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, N.J.- Four members of the Rutgers baseball team were honored by the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association (NJCBA), as voted by the league's eight Division I head coaches. Junior center fielder Luis Feliz (New Brunswick, N.J.) was a First Team All-State selection, while freshman first baseman Jaren Matthews (Teaneck, N.J.) was a Second Team All-State pick and fellow freshman outfielders Michael Lang (Dumont, N.J.) and Pat Biserta (Point Pleasant, N.J.) were named to the Division I All-Rookie Team.
The annual NJCBA Awards banquet will be held at the Pines Manor in Edison on Tuesday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Feliz led the Scarlet Knights with a .328 batting average and 15 doubles this season. The center fielder started all 50 games he played in during the 2008 campaign. He had three outfield assists on the season and committed just one error all year. Offensively, Feliz collected 57 hits, including two triples and four home runs. He drove in 33 runs and scored 30 more. His .506 slugging percentage led the Scarlet Knights. Feliz was also successful in 10 of his 13 stolen base attempts. He recorded 10 doubles in BIG EAST play to tie for the third-most in the league. Feliz's .611 slugging percentage in conference action was tied for seventh-best in the BIG EAST. His best performance of the season came in a 22-10 victory over Georgetown on April 11 when the junior hit two home runs and two doubles to complete a 4-for-6 day from the plate and drive in six runs while scoring four more. This marked the second NJCBA honor for Feliz, who was named to the All-Rookie Team as a freshman in 2006.
Matthews, who collected Third Team All-BIG EAST honors earlier in the week, was one of two Scarlet Knights to start every game in 2008. He finished the season with a team-best 10 home runs and 54 RBI. The first baseman hit .294 overall with a team-best 63 hits, including 11 doubles and two triples. The true freshman also earned 21 walks and was successful in eight of his nine stolen base attempts this season. Matthews' RBI total was tied for seventh-most in the BIG EAST, while his home run total was tied for ninth-most in the conference. In league play, the freshman was tied for the BIG EAST lead with 30 RBI. He tied for second in the league with seven home runs and ranked 11th with a .570 slugging percentage during conference action. Matthews was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on March 31 after hitting .412 with an .882 slugging percentage in five games. He collected three doubles, a triple and a home run, while scoring 10 runs during the span.
Lang stepped in during the last month of the season and the true freshman was a crucial part of the Scarlet Knights' late-season surge. After recording just one hit in his first five games, the outfielder hit a team-best .421 (16-for-38) with two doubles, a triple and a home run in his final 22 games. Lang split time as the designated hitter and right fielder while mostly serving as the Scarlet Knights' leadoff hitter. He had a pair of three-hit performances at Cincinnati and against Villanova. The freshman hit .388 overall and stole eight bases in his rookie campaign.
Biserta saw action in 31 games, hitting .254 overall with two doubles and two home runs. He served mostly as the Scarlet Knights' designated hitter, while also seeing time in center field. He went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored against Iona on April 16 and recorded four multiple-hit games overall. The freshman hit his first collegiate home run in the Scarlet Knights' season opener at Georgetown on April 11 and connected on his second home run at Cincinnati on May 3. Biserta saw action in eight of Rutgers' nine BIG EAST series this season. He recorded 14 starts overall as a freshman.
The NJCBA is composed of the eight Division I and 17 Division II/III baseball playing colleges and universities in the state of New Jersey.
