DALLAS (Feb. 17, 2021) – Washington State junior first baseman Kyle Manzardo picked up his second preseason All-America accolade of 2021 after being named to the 2021 Preseason All-America Third Team by the Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Wednesday. Manzardo was named to the Preseason All-American Third Team by Collegiate Baseball in December.
 
Manzardo, who earned All-American third-team honors from Collegiate Baseball last season, finished a shorted 2020 season with a .435 batting average with seven doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI, a .500 on-base percentage and a Pac-12 best 27 hits. The Coeur d'Alene, Idaho native tied for the league lead in doubles, was second in batting average and was fourth in slugging (.694) and runs scored (21).
 
Manzardo recorded a hit in all 16 games Washington State played in 2020, finished the season with five straight multiple-hit games, led the team with nine multiple-hit games and will take a 17-game hitting streak into the 2021 season, tied for the sixth-longest hitting streak in the program history.
 
Manzardo also earned WSU's first Pac-12 Player of the Week Award since 2016 following a monster weekend at the plate in the four-game series sweep of Niagara in Pullman. The first baseman hit .556 (10-for-18) with 11 runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and nine RBI while slugging 1.000 and posted an on-base percentage of .619 in WSU's first four-game series sweep since 2017.
 
Last season, Manzardo was the first Cougar All-American since Jared Prince (OF/P) and Jay Miller (OF) each earned third team honors in 2006 and was WSU's first All-American infielder since Ray Hattenburg (UTL) earned honorable mention in 1999 and Casey Kelley (1B) was a third-team selection in 1998. Prince (2006), Derek Jones (2009) and Ian Hamilton (2014) each earned Freshman All-America honors.
 
Hamilton was the last Cougar to receive preseason All-American recognition back prior to the 2016 season.
 
The Cougars open the 2021 season with a four-game series at UC Davis beginning Friday.