Here's the release from UConn:
University of Connecticut senior second baseman LJ Mazzilli
(Greenwich, Conn.) was named the BIG EAST baseball preseason player of the year
as voted on by the league’s coaches, Thursday afternoon. In the preseason
coaches’ poll, the Huskies were pegged fourth for the second straight season.
In 2012, UConn finished fifth in the regular season with a 16-11 conference mark
and went 31-27-1 overall including a pair of wins at the BIG EAST Championship
in Clearwater, before falling to USF in the semifinals.
Mazzilli is the only player to represent the Huskies on the BIG EAST preseason
team. As a junior, he led UConn in almost every major offensive category;
including batting average (.339), doubles (19), home runs (9), runs (43) and RBI
(38). In June, Mazzilli was drafted in the ninth round of the MLB draft by the
Minnesota Twins with the 280th overall selection. Last week, he was named a
preseason All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball News.