May 20, 2003
KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC... George Mason junior shortstop Jeff Palumbo has been selected as the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year and he joins teammates senior left fielder Evan Howard, junior third baseman Nick Shimer and sophomore first baseman Chris Looze in receiving All-CAA honors. The awards were announced this afternoon at the annual CAA Baseball Championship banquet at the Dare County Youth Center.
Shimer earned first-team All-CAA accolades, while Howard, Palumbo and Looze each were named to the all-conference second team. Howard was selected to the All-CAA second team for the second straight year, while the honor was the first for each of the other players.
George Mason (28-18, 9-8 CAA) enters the OBX/CAA Baseball Championship as the No. 6 seed and will meet top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth (41-11, 17-3 CAA) in the opening game of the tournament Wednesday at 12 p.m. at Coy Tillett Memorial Field in Manteo, NC. Other first-round matchups include No. 2 UNC Wilmington (36-19, 15-6) against fifth-seeded Towson (28-23, 11-9) at 3:30 p.m. and third-seeded William & Mary (30-18, 12-4) vs. No. 4 James Madison (29-25, 13-7) at 7 p.m.
Palumbo (Bowie, MD/St. John's HS) was chosen as the league's best defensive shortstop in a preseason coaches poll by Baseball America and he did not disappoint. The 5-10, 165-pounder committed seven errors in 225 chances for a .969 fielding percentage, and he made just one error in 95 chances in 17 CAA contests (.989 percentage). Palumbo, who has 17 errors in his last 91 games, enters the CAA Tournament with a 19-game errorless streak (covering 86 chances) and his 146 assists ranks third in the conference.
Offensively, the switch-hitter has had another solid season as he is batting .302 with two home runs and 25 runs batted in. He ranks fifth on the Patriots in both batting and RBI, and he is tied for fourth with five stolen bases.
Shimer (Clifton, VA/Robinson HS) had a breakout year both offensively and defensively for George Mason. The 6-1, 210-pound right-handed hitter has posted career highs with a .337 average, six home runs and 36 RBI, and he leads the Patriots with 17 doubles while ranking second in home runs and RBI and third in batting. Defensively, he has just six errors in 167 chances for a .964 fielding percentage.
After being George Mason's top hitter in 2002 with a .348 average and tying the school record with 25 doubles, Howard (Arlington, VA/Bishop O'Connell HS) started this season in a terrible slump and was hitting just .192 at the end of March. But in the 25 games since then, the 5-10, 185-pound right-handed hitter is batting .404 to raise his season average to .309. He adds 11 doubles, a career-high five home runs, 33 RBI and seven stolen bases, ranking second on the Patriots in steals, third in home runs, tied for third in doubles, and fourth in batting and RBI.
Looze (Amherst, MA/Amherst Regional HS) came to George Mason this season as a transfer from South Florida Community College and has settled right in to the Patriot lineup. The 6-1, 195-pound left-handed swinger got off to a torrid start as he was 9-11 in the first three games of the season at No. 23 Tulane, and he led Mason in batting for much of the season before a recent slump dropped him to second at .341. He paces the Patriots with 44 runs, 12 home runs, 47 RBI and a .619 slugging percentage.
