“He came to my doorstep looking to pitch and I was worried that he couldn’t pull it together because of his injuries,” U coach Tim Esmay said of the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year. “We gave him a chance, and look at what Mitch [Maio] turned into.
“Maio had been a closer for the brunt of his career and this year [he] made the transition to the starting pitching role, and it would be an understatement to say that it was a success,” Esmay said.
U hurler Maio was honored as co-Player of the Year in the MWC after a brilliant season, in which he was awarded MWC Pitcher of the Week four times.
In conference play, Maio was 6-1 with a 4.15 ERA and gave the Utes some of his best games against the toughest conference teams.
San Diego State felt the brunt of Maio’s arm, resulting in two losses on two complete games thrown by Maio.
“He is a pitcher that everyone trusts to win the game,” Esmay said. Maio also tied the school record twice for strikeouts in a game this season with 11.
“It’s really fun to be accepting this award, but there are a lot of other good players who deserved it,” Maio said.
“It’s good to be in that type of company. I am really accepting this honor because of my teammates. I wouldn’t have been 6-1 in conference play without their help,” he added.
Four other Utes were also named to the all-MWC second team. Donald Hawes, Nate Weese, Adam Castleton and Mike Westfall earned the nominations. Weese led the MWC with 9 home runs and he hit for a .336 average. Castleton delivered 6 round-trippers and had an average of .362, while Hawes hit .308 with 19 runs scored.
Westfall finished his sophomore campaign as the team leader in conference batting average, owning a .393.