Player Bio: Damien Alvarado

  Damien Alvarado
Damien Alvarado
Player Profile
Hometown:
Sacramento, CA
High School:
Jesuit
Height / Weight:
5-11 / 195
Position:
C
Experience:
4V
Bats/Throws:
Left/Right


A solid catcher who emerged as the team's starter as a junior and responded with an excellent season...Expected to be one of the conference's top catchers in final collegiate campaign... Has the ability to shut down running games of opposing teams...Has a quick throwing release...A good contact hitter who puts the ball in play with occasional power...Has played for the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaska League for the last two summers... Hit .323 with a homer and team-high 32 RBI in 1998, as well as .284 with a homer, 20 RBI and a team-high 36 bases on balls last summer...Was named outstanding player of the Anchorage Bucs Wood Bat Invitational in 1998 and earned all-tournament honors at the 1999 NBC Tournament last season.

As a Junior in 1999 - Started 63 of the team's 65 games after earning the starting job in preseason practice...Earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 honors...Had an excellent defensive season, throwing out 29-of-61 (.475) runners attempting to steal...Hit .299 with five homers and 51 RBI...Second on the team in hit by pitches with nine...Struggled in the post season with a .171 batting average (6-for-35, 5 RBI)...Named Pac-10 Player of the Week on March 8 after hitting ..555 (10-for-18) in four games, including a three-game sweep over Arizona State...Finished fourth on the team with 38 bases on balls... Had just 24 strikeouts in 231 at bats...Ran off a 10-game hitting streak from March 26-April 13...Enjoyed best offensive day of his career on February 7, going 4-for-5 with a homer and five RBI in 13-7 win at Cal State Fullerton...Went 3-for-5 with a homer and a double in 10-7 win at USC on February 26...Was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI in 11-8 win over Arizona State on March 7...Homered and drove in three runs in 9-8 loss at Texas on March 20...Went 3-for-3 with two doubles and four RBI in 7-3 win over San Francisco on April 13.

As a Sophomore in 1998 - Split starting catching duties with John Salter...Appeared in 33 games, including 18 starts, and hit .260 with a homer and seven RBI...Had six multi-hit games...Went 2-for-2 with a run scored in season opening 15-3 win over Santa Clara on January 23...In the finest offensive game of his season, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI in 13-2 win over Saint Mary's on March 3...Hit first collegiate homer in 12-8 victory over Arizona State on May 3.

As a Freshman in 1997 - Appeared in 11 games in a reserve role...Went 1-for-3 with a run scored in 18-4 win at Sacramento State on February 25...Was 1-for-1 with an RBI in 16-5 loss to Arizona State on April 12...Pitched one inning of scoreless relief in 13-8 loss to Washington in the Pac-10 Championship Series on May 16...Was on the 25-man postseason roster but did not play.

High School - 1996 graduate of Jesuit High School...Helped Jesuit win two section titles...All-Sacramento and all-league selection...Also participated in basketball...Named to the Honor Roll...Graduated with a 3.8 GPA...Played American Legion for coach Charles Eggen.

Personal - Economics major...Son of David and Barbara Alvarado.

Alvarado's Career Stats (Hitting)
Year    Avg   GP/GS  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB  K SB/SBA
1997   .400    11/0  10  2  4  0  0  0   1  0  2    0/0
1998   .260   33/18  77 14 20  2  1  1   7  6  9    0/0
1999   .299   63/63 231 39 69 15  2  5  51 38 24    2/6
Totals .292  107/81 318 55 93 17  3  6  59 44 35    2/6

Alvarado's Career Stats (Pitching) Year ERA G/GS W-L CG SV SHO/CBO IP R-ER H K BB 1998 0.00 1/0 0-0 0 0 0/0 1.0 0-0 0 0 1 Totals 0.00 1/0 0-0 0 0 0/0 1.0 0-0 0 0 1

Career vs. Pac-10 Team Avg AB H HR RBI Arizona .476 21 10 0 2 Arizona State .417 24 10 1 5 California .375 30 9 0 5 Oregon State .091 11 1 0 0 UCLA .000 13 0 0 1 USC .111 40 9 1 4 Washington .000 18 4 0 3 Washington State .364 11 4 0 2 Totals .250 168 47 2 22

Career NCAA Post-Season Year Avg GP/GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB/SBA 1998 .000 1/1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 1999 .171 9/9 35 7 6 1 0 0 5 5 7 0/0 Totals .154 10/10 39 7 6 1 0 0 5 5 7 0/0

Career Game Highs AB - 6, vs. Florida State (6/18/99) R - 3, twice, last vs. Cal Poly (5/20/99) H - 4, at Cal State Fullerton (2/7/99) HR - 1, six times, last vs. Cal Poly (5/21/99) RBI - 5, at Cal State Fullerton (2/7/99) Hit Streak - 10 games (3/26/99-4/13/99) IP - 1, vs. Washington (5/16/98)