June 22, 2004

Stacen Gant was nearly unbeatable in 2004 and the junior righthander was honored on Tuesday for his 10-1 record and 2.72 ERA this past season when he was named the ECAC Division I Pitcher of the Year.

Gant did not lose until the final game of the season, which for the Patriots, came in the NCAA Tournament. Gant struck out 87 batters in 119 innings and held the opposition to a .218 batting average. He was first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association, first-team All-State and he also received All-America honorable mention from CollegeBaseballInsider.com.

Gant wasn't the only George Mason baseball player named to the all-star team. Junior first baseman Chris Looze and senior shortstop Jeff Palumbo were also named to the first team and in total six of the 12 players on the first team came from the CAA, including ECAC Player of the Year, Chris Rahl of William & Mary.

Looze batted .340 this season with 17 homers, 21 doubles and a school-record 81 RBI. He was third in the nation in RBI per game at the conclusion of the regular season. Palumbo batted .402 and set school records with 96 hits and 81 runs scored. He finished the regular season leading the nation in runs per game. He also set school records for career hits, runs, at-bats, games, games started and assists. Looze and Palumbo were both first-team All-CAA and Palumbo was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the George Mason Male Student-Athlete of the Year as well as receiving All-State honors.