Dominguez, Marks Earn All-America Honors from Baseball America
June 13, 2009 | Baseball
June 13, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. - University of Louisville junior third baseman Chris Dominguez was named First Team All-America by Baseball America on Friday afternoon, while junior lefty Justin Marks earned Third Team All-America honors.
Dominguez, a 6-4, 240-pound native of Miami, Fla., is a two-time and reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year and is also a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Dominguez delivered another impressive season in 2009 as he matched a Louisville single season record with 25 home runs, finished with career highs in RBI (82) and stolen bases (19-of-25) and hit .345 overall.
On Tuesday night, Dominguez was selected in the third round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and 86th overall by the San Francisco Giants completing a highly successful collegiate career. After arriving in Louisville as one of the most highly regarded recruits in school history, Dominguez lived up to the hype leading the Cardinals to their most successful three-year stretch ever and setting numerous records along the way. Dominguez departs Louisville as the program's career leader in RBI with 218 and ranks second in home runs (61), second in runs scored (196), tied for sixth in hits (252), seventh in stolen bases (39), seventh in at bats (788) and 10th in doubles (45).
Marks, a 6-3, 195-pound native of Owensboro, Ky., was the 2009 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and a Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper during his junior season. He closed his highly successful three-year career as a Cardinal by going 11-3 overall with 129 strikeouts in 105.0 innings and a 3.77 ERA. The 11 wins is a single season school record, while the 129 strikeouts rank second on the Cards' single season list.
He was also selected in the third round and was the 92nd selection overall by the Oakland Athletics closing his career in the Louisville uniform. After making a splash on the national scene with a win in Omaha during the Cards' magical run to the College World Series in 2007, Marks finished his career with a 29-7 record overall and is Louisville's career leader in wins (29), strikeouts (305), ERA (2.96) and starts (48).
Dominguez and Marks teamed to lead Louisville to its best three-year run in school history from 2007-09. During that stretch, the Cardinals made three-straight NCAA Championship appearances, advanced to a pair of NCAA Super Regionals in 2007 and 2009, one College World Series appearance in 2007, won back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament titles, won the program's first ever BIG EAST regular-season title in 2009, won a school record 47 games in 2007 and 2009 and earned the program's first ever 40-win regular season in 2009.
The Cardinals closed out their 2009 season on Saturday with an NCAA Super Regional loss at No. 2 Cal State Fullerton. Louisville finished with a 47-18 record overall after sweeping the BIG EAST Conference regular season and tournament titles. U of L advanced to its second Super Regional in three years after earning a 5-3 win over Vanderbilt in the title game of the NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium, the first ever NCAA Baseball Regional in Louisville.
