STANFORD, Calif. – Semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, Quinn Mathews and Alberto Rios have added Collegiate Baseball All-America honors for the 2023 season.
Rios, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, is listed on the first team, while Mathews, the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, landed on the second team. Rios is the only Pac-12 player to earn a spot on the first team, and is the second first-team selection in as many seasons for the Cardinal after Alex Williams was lauded a year ago.
Rios enters the postseason hitting .403 with 60 runs scored, 20 doubles, 17 home runs and 66 RBIs. Stanford's starting left fielder has posted multiple hits in 10 of his last 15 games and leads the Pac-12 in average, is second in doubles, slugging (.756) and on-base percentage (.510), fourth in hits (81) and RBIs, and fifth in home runs. The native of Bellflower, Calif. launched 12 homers, scored 34 runs and drove in 38 while batting .434 with 10 doubles in Pac-12 play, and has hit safely in 45 of the 53 games he's played this season while compiling 23 multi-hit games and a team-best 16 multi-RBI games.
Mathews, a preseason All-American according to Collegiate Baseball, has pitched to a 7-4 record and a 3.87 ERA over 15 starts and 100 innings of work this year. The left-hander has struck out 124 compared to 35 walks while limiting the opposition to a .234 average against. The native of Aliso Viejo, Calif. has lasted five innings in all but one start this season, including at least seven in nine of the 15. Mathews has managed double digit strikeouts in seven starts this year, including six of his last nine entering the postseason. Stanford's ace, Mathews leads the Pac-12 and is third nationally in strikeouts, second in the Pac-12 in victories, third in WHIP (1.23) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.54), fourth in hits allowed per nine (7.92), and fifth in ERA (3.87) and strikeouts per nine (11.16).
The Cardinal is preparing to host its sixth consecutive NCAA regional beginning on Friday with a 2 p.m. game against San Jose State. Stanford, the only team to have hosted a regional in each of the last six seasons, is the No. 8 national seed in the tournament.
