July 4, 2012

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Baseball America's Freshman All-America Selections

DURHAM, N.C. - UCLA right-handed reliever David Berg has secured first-team freshman All-America acclaim from Baseball America, the national publication announced Wednesday.

Berg led all Pac-12 pitchers with a 1.46 ERA and .165 opposing batting average in a Pac-12 record-setting 50 appearances during his freshman season in 2012. He led the nation with a 0.80 WHIP (walks, hits allowed per inning) and ranked second in the country with 5.11 hits allowed per nine innings.

Berg's 50 appearances (all in relief) is tied for the second-highest single-season appearances total in NCAA Division I history. Florida's Connor Falkenbach pitched in a record-setting 51 games in 2005. South Carolina's John Taylor made 50 appearances in 2011.

The native of Covina, Calif., went 5-3 on the mound, logging 63 strikeouts and 17 walks in 74.0 innings.

Berg, a product of Bishop Amat High School (La Puente, Calif.) has already earned third-team All-America accolades from Perfect Game USA and second-team freshman All-America honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA).

Berg becomes the 10th player in school history to capture first-team freshman All-America honors from Baseball America. Previous UCLA ballplayers to accomplish that feat include Bill Haselman (1986), Pete Janicki (1990), Eric Byrnes (1995), Josh Karp (1999), Wes Whisler (2002), Brandon Crawford (2006), Gabe Cohen (2007), Trevor Bauer (2009) and Adam Plutko (2011).

Berg is currently pitching alongside UCLA teammate Adam Plutko for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer. Team USA begins a five-game series against Cuba in Havana on Thursday, July 5.