The USF baseball team had three players named to the Big East All-Conference team on Monday. Pitcher Danny Otero, who transferred from Duke following his junior year, received 2nd team honors. Shortstop Walter Diaz and second baseman Dexter Butler, who are both juniors, were named to the 3rd team All Conference.

Otero, a senior playing his first season for the Bulls, was impressive all the way through. He was tied for the team lead with eight wins, including one shutout. He also led the Bulls with 111.2 innings pitched. Otero finished fourth in the Big East in strikeouts with 82. His 3.55 ERA helped the Bulls staff finish sixth in the Big East in team ERA, and he allowed a team-low 22 walks.

Otero was near the top of the Big East in several categories. He ranked first in the Big East in both innings pitched (111.2) and games started (15), second in wins (8) and fourth in strikeouts (82).

Diaz, a transfer from the University of Miami, led the Bulls in several categories. Diaz had a .348 batting average and recorded 77 hits, leading the team in both. He also led the team in stolen bases with 14, OBP with .448 and he earned 93 total bases. Diaz’s 55 runs scored led the Bulls and was good enough to finish 5th in the Big East. Diaz improved upon his sophomore season at UM. He raised his batting average .067 points from .284, while knocking in 43 more runs than he did last season. He recorded 48 more hits for the Bulls than he did last season and hit four more doubles than he did a year ago. Diaz finished in the top-10 in the Big East in runs scored, on base percentage, hits, at bats and plate appearances.

Butler also made the Big East team. He was a close second behind Diaz in most categories, but showed significant improvement from last season. Butler had a .337 batting average to finish second on the team. He was also second with 67 hits and tied for second on the team with Diaz with 11 doubles. He was fourth on the team with 81 total bases and second on the team with a .433 OBP. Butler’s numbers improved vastly over his sophomore season. He improved his batting average .076 points from .261, recorded 13 more hits, knocked in four more doubles and 24 more RBI than last season.