Card Chronicle, a Louisville Cardinals community

From the Big East: Louisville third baseman Chris Dominguez became just the second player in BIG EAST history to repeat as BIG EAST Player of the Year as he took home the conference’s top individual honor Monday in advance of the 2009 BIG EAST Baseball Championship at Bright House Field. Louisville pitcher Justin Marks was chosen as BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, while Connecticut outfielder George Springer was tabbed as the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. USF head coach Lelo Prado was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year. Dominguez is the first player to win the BIG EAST Player of the Year honor in consecutive seasons since Notre Dame’s Steve Stanley won in 2001 and 2002. Dominguez shared the honor with Cincinnati’s Josh Harrison in 2008. Dominguez led Louisville to its best regular season in school history as the Cardinals went 40-14 and captured the BIG EAST regular-season title for the first time. He finished the regular season as Louisville’s leader in home runs (21), RBIs (75) and stolen bases (17). He led the BIG EAST in total bases (158) and was second in the conference in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage (.721). He capped the regular season by hitting home runs in each game of the Cardinals’ doubleheader sweep of USF, which gave Louisville the outright regular-season championship. Marks becomes the second Louisville player to be named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year in the last three seasons, joining 2007 winner Zack Pitts. Marks finished the regular season as the BIG EAST’s only nine-game winner, going 9-2 with a 3.47 earned-run average that ranks third in the conference. He struck out a BIG EAST-leading 106 batters and walked just 27 in 85.2 innings and went 7-1 in nine starts against BIG EAST competition.

Justin Marks gets a nod on the second team. Quite an impressive feat for the baseball program. Dominguez (Miami, Fla.) was named to five All-America teams in 2008 and earned BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year honors after hitting .365 with a team-leading 21 home runs and 75 RBI to go with 13 doubles. He was also named 2008 BIG EAST Tournament MVP after leading the Cards to their first ever BIG EAST title while going 8-for-18 (.444) from the plate with two home runs, nine RBI and seven runs scored. Marks (Owensboro, Ky.) was named to a pair of All-America teams and earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors last season with a 9-2 record, a 2.37 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 91 innings of work. He is 18-4 overall in his career at U of L with a 2.53 ERA in 195.2 innings.