Irvine, CA—The Big West today announced that UC Riverside's Vince Fernandez, Mark Contreras, Austin Sodders, Michael Farris and Alex Fagalde were named to the league's all-conference teams. The quintet helped the Highlanders post a fourth place finish in the Big West this season, after conference coaches pegged them to come in seventh in the preseason poll.

View UC Riverside Baseball's all-time list of all-conference honorees.

Fernandez, who was a Second-Team honoree a year ago, earned First-Team accolades this season as he finished fourth in the Big West during the regular season with a .350 batting average, fifth in on base percentage (.431), second in slugging percentage (.509), first in base hits, third in home runs, sixth in runs scored, fifth in RBIs, first in total bases and seventh in walks. In conference play, the outfielder led the league with 26 RBIs in 24 games, and finished second with five home runs. He earned two conference field player of the week awards this season.

Contreras was named to the All-Big West Second Team after finishing eighth in the Big West in batting average (.332), 10th in on base percentage (.407), 16th in slugging percentage (.430), sixth in doubles, ninth in base hits and 11th in stolen bases. In league play, the outfielder hit .347 with a .446 slugging percentage. His 18 runs scored and eight doubles were the second most during the conference season, and his 35 base hits were third most.

Sodders also earned a Second-Team nod, going 7-4 on the season and posting an ERA of 2.57—the seventh lowest earned run average among Big West pitchers. His 7.70 strikeouts per nine innings were the 11th most in the conference. The Highlanders' Friday night starter was even better in league play where he went 5-1 with a 2.22 ERA, while allowing just eight extra base hits. Opposing teams hit just .235 against him this season, including .244 in Big West play.

Farris was named to the All-Big West Honorable Mention squad as one of the top defenders in the league this season. The transfer committed just seven errors on the year compared to the 21 that Highlanders third basemen committed a year ago. The Garden Grove, California native also boasted 11 multi-hit games on the season and five multi-RBI games.

Fagalde's efforts in anchoring a Highlanders' relief corps that dropped its collective ERA from 5.60 a year ago to 3.96 in 2016, helped earn him a spot on the Honorable Mention Team as well. As a relief pitcher, the junior posted a 1.99 ERA, striking out 47 and walking just 10 in 40.2 innings of work. Opponents hits just .231 against him over that span.