TUCSON, Ariz. – More awards are rolling in for Arizona freshmen Austin Wells and Dayton Dooney, who were both named First-Team Freshmen All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Monday.
 
It's the second such honor for both players, who were also tabbed as Freshmen All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball last week. Wells was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at the end of the regular season and was also placed on the Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention team.
 
Wells, a catcher/first baseman from Las Vegas, finished his first collegiate campaign hitting .353 (78-for-221) with 73 runs scored, 15 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 60 RBI, a .552 slugging percentage, a .462 on-base percentage, and more walks (46) than strikeouts (43). He set Arizona freshman season records in runs scored and on-base percentage and ranked among the top 10 Division I freshmen in triples, walks, RBI, OBP, batting average, hits, and total bases. He was selected to the first-team as a catcher.
 
Dooney, an infielder hailing from Poway, California, posted a .323 (52-for-161) batting average with 43 runs scored 14 doubles, 10 home runs, 53 RBI, a .596 slugging percentage, and a .417 on-base percentage in his freshman year. His 53 RBI were the third-most logged by an Arizona freshman since 1976, while his .596 slugging percentage stood as the 10^th best mark among all Division I freshmen at the end of the regular season. Dooney's 10 home runs were twice as many as he swatted during his entire high school career. He was selected to the first-team as a second baseman. 
 
The honoring of Wells and Dooney marks the first time since 2009 that any publication included multiple Arizona players on their Freshmen All-America lists. The pair of Wildcats represent two-of-three Pac-12 student-athletes included on the first- and second-teams. Arizona is one of just two programs with multiple players on the NCBWA Freshmen All-America list, along with UC Santa Barbara.