TAMPA- Lelo Prado and five members of the 2009 University of South Florida baseball team were honored by the BIG EAST Conference on Monday when the league announced its award winners.

Head coach Lelo Prado was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year after leading the Bulls to a 18-9 record in conference play. Prado helped the Bulls to a second place finish in conference with 18 wins, the most since joining the BIG EAST. The 18 conference wins was the second most in program history, trailing only the 1996 season in which the Bulls went 20-4 in Conference USA. Prado has put USF in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament in all three years since joining the program in 2007. The Bulls, who finished 14-13 in league play last year- a sixth place finish- improved by four games and earned the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament in 2009.

Five members of the Bulls' baseball team were named to All-Conference teams including Randy Fontanez, Trey Manz, Junior Carlin, Derrick Stultz and Todd Brazeal. Fontanez was named to the first team, and Manz was second team while Carlin, Stultz and Brazeal were all part of the third team.

The five nods are the most since joining the BIG EAST for the 2006 season, as three players were honored in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The last time USF had five all-conference honorees was in 2000 in Conference USA.

The last time a USF skipper was named coach of the year was in 1996 in C-USA.

Fontanez was named first team all-conference for his performance in 2009. The sophomore starter led the Bulls and the league in conference play with a 2.69 ERA while going 6-1 with four complete games. Opponents hit just .229 against Fontanez and he recorded seven quality starts during the 2009 season.

Senior Trey Manz was named second team all-conference for the first time in his career. Manz led the Bulls with a .574 slugging percentage and also added six home runs and 24 RBI. The senior catcher batted .306 in 43 games for the Bulls.

Outfielder Junior Carlin earned third team all-conference honors after winning the BIG EAST batting title with a .471 batting average in conference play. Carlin collected 33 hits in just 70 at-bats while scoring 14 runs for the Bulls.

First baseman Todd Brazeal batted .333 with three home runs and 26 RBI on the season. Brazeal also posted a slugging percentage of .500 in his freshman campaign, one of seven Bulls to do so.

Sophomore Derrick Stultz led the Bulls with 43 strikeouts while going 3-3 in BIG EAST play in 2009. Stultz posted a 4.65 ERA in eight appearances and 50.1 innings pitched.

The Bulls enter the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will take on No.7 Pittsburgh in their opening round game Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Brighthouse  Field in Clearwater, Fla.