Hernandez named to Southland Conference All-Tournament team

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Hernandez named to Southland Conference All-Tournament team

Daucy Crizer-Lamar University SID

May 29, 2007 - 4:20PM

BEAUMONT – After helping Lamar University post a 1-2 record, first baseman

Dan Hernandez was named to the 2007 Southland Conference All-Tournament

team, in voting by media representatives covering the SLC Tournament at

Brown-Stroud Field in Natchitoches, La.

A senior from San Carlos, Calif., Hernandez was hampered by injuries for

much of the season. He came back to give the Cardinals a big lift in the

final series of the regular season, helping Lamar take two of three from

McNeese State to win the SLC East Division title.

Hernandez hit .455 (5-for-11) with two runs scored, a double, a home run

and five RBI at the SLC Tournament. He went 3-for-4 with a run scored in

Lamar’s 12-2 win over McNeese State. He went 1-for-3 with a double and two

RBI in a 7-3 loss to eventual SLC Tournament champion Sam Houston State. He

was 1-for-4 with a 3-run home run that pulled the Cardinals within a run in

a 7-6 loss to Texas-San Antonio.

For the season, Hernandez hit .315 with 17 run scored, 12 doubles, four

home runs and 22 RBI. For his two-year career, Hernandez hit .335 with 62

runs scored, 21 doubles, 13 home runs and 64 RBI.

Senior outfielder Erik Kanaby also wrapped up his Lamar career in Friday’s

loss to UTSA. Kanaby led the team with a .406 batting average, which ranks

as the second-best single-season average in school history behind Jordan

Foster’s .417 in 2003. His 91 hits also rank second in school history behind

Foster’s 96 in 2003. He led the team with 62 run scored, which is tied for

the second-most in a single-season behind Blake Justice’s 66 in 2002. His

career batting average of .381 ranks as the best in school history.

Juniors Michael Ambort and Collin DeLome are expected to be taken early in

the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year player draft next week and have

likely played their final games for the Cardinals.

Ambort, a native of Rockville Centre, N.Y., finished his career as the

school’s all-time home run leader with 38 and his 173 career RBIs ranks

second only to Kim Christensen’s 190. He posted a .329 average with 140 runs

scored and 51 doubles, which ranks fifth all-time. He was named SLC hitter

of the year in 2005, when he also earned American Baseball Coaches

Association (ABCA) second-team and Baseball America third-team All-America

honors.

“I have no regrets about coming down to Lamar University to play baseball,â€

said Ambort. “Lamar has been a great experience for me. I have made a lot of

good friends and I plan to stay in touch with all of them. Plus, I got a

great education.â€

DeLome, a Buna native, also ranks among the all-time leader in several

statistical categories, including the school’s career triples leader with

22. His .340 career batting average ranks seventh, his 220 hits rank sixth

and his 150 RBIs ranks eighth.