Baseball America Release

MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine ace A.J. Puckett picked up another All-American honor this week after being named to Baseball America's first team.

Puckett is one of four starting pitchers on the first team and is the only player from the West Coast Conference to garner first-team accolades. Saint Mary's pitcher Corbin Burnes was named to the second team. The Waves' ace was also named a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist last week, a National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist and to Collegiate Baseball's All-American first team.

The junior righty is the first Wave since Noah Lowry in 2001 to be named a first-team All-American by Baseball American. Pepperdine's Aaron Brown also earned first-team All-American status from the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2014. Puckett is the 10th player in program history to garner a first-team nod from Baseball America.

Puckett put up the third best ERA in both Pepperdine and WCC history with a 1.27 mark in what was one of the most remarkable seasons in program history. Puckett finished the year fourth in the NCAA in ERA, 10th in WHIP (0.92) and 16th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.89), also leading the WCC in all three categories. He held opponents to a .191 batting average, all while striking out 95 batters and walking just 26, earning himself WCC Pitcher of the Year honors.

Puckett went 9-3 for the Waves and put up one of the most dominant stretches in NCAA history, tossing 45.2 consecutive scoreless innings and 57.1 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run. Both marks were Pepperdine records and the 45.2 scoreless inning streak was the third longest in NCAA history. Puckett posted eight starts this year in which he did not allow an earned run and seven in which he did not give up a run at all. He also had five starts with at least eight strikeouts and one or fewer walks, including a complete-game shutout of Portland in which he struck out a career-high 12 batters and walked none.