May 20, 2008

Wilmington, N.C. - George Mason baseball coach Bill Brown was named CAA Co-Coach of the Year on Tuesday night while four of his players were voted to the all-conference teams as announced at the CAA Baseball Banquet on Tuesday night in Wilmington, N.C.

Brown, in his 27th season at Mason, led the Patriots to an 18-10 conference record, good for third in the CAA. The Patriots had been selected fifth in the preseason. This is the fifth time Brown has been named CAA Coach of the Year. He previously earned the award in 1987, 1992, 1993 and 2004. Brown picked up his 750th career win this past Thursday. He shared the award with UNCW's Mark Scalf who led the preseason favorite Seahawks to the regular-season title and a national ranking.

Brown's Patriots practiced at Brooks Field in Wilmington on Tuesday afternoon in preparation for Wednesday's first round game in the CAA Tournament. The Patriots will play fourth-seeded William & Mary at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Junior outfielder Scott Krieger led the four Patriots honored at the banquet as he was named second-team All-CAA. This is the third straight season Krieger has picked up an honor as he was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team in 2006 and last year he was first-team All-CAA. Krieger is batting .360 with 16 homers, 46 RBI, 55 runs, a .473 on-base percentage and a .680 slugging percentage. He is either first or second on the team in all those categories.

Three sophomores were named to the third-team squad. Justin Bour, an All-Rookie selection and a member of the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team last year was named to this season's third-team squad at first base. Bour is batting .399 with 13 homers, 59 RBI, 51 runs, 81 hits, a .655 slugging percentage and a .479 on-base percentage. He is either first or second team in all those categories and he has reached base safely in all but one contest.

The other two sophomores named third-team All-CAA were hurlers. Dan Gerjets was chosen as a starting pitcher while Ryan Brecko was named as a relief pitcher. Gerjets is 6-2 on the year with five of those wins coming in the CAA. He has a 4.52 ERA and he has allowed just 19 walks in 63.2 innings. Brecko is 6-1 with four saves, a 3.61 ERA and he has allowed just 46 hits in 57.1 innings pitched. His .221 opponent's batting average is tops in the CAA.

Mark Carver of UNC Wilmington was named Player of the Year while Nick Natoli of Towson was the Defensive Player of the Year. Cameron Roth of UNCW was named Rookie of the Year.