April 13, 2009

George Mason redshirt junior righthander Kevin Crum has been dominating the opposition in his past three outings and on Monday, he was honored for his most recent start as he was named the Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week. He is the second-straight Mason pitcher to win the honor. Mike Modica was named CAA Co-Pitcher of the Week last week.

Crum took the mound on Friday against Towson in the opener of a three-game series. After allowing two runs in seven innings at William & Mary and one run in seven innings against William & Mary, Crum allowed no runs in seven innings against the Tigers. He held Towson to three hits and two walks while striking out four. The shutout gave Mason back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1992.

Crum, who has gone six or more innings in seven of his eight starts and held the opposition to three runs or fewer in six of those eight starts, is second on the team with five wins and he leads the team with 50 innings pitched. He's also second on the team in strikeouts, with 29. He is 5-2 on the year with a 3.42 ERA and a .246 opponent's batting average.

Mason was 4-1 last week but the Patriots saw their school-record 23-game home winning streak come to an end. The Patriots lost the series finale to Towson, 9-4, only the second time all season the bullpen has suffered a loss. Mason remains ranked 25th in the nation by Collegiate Baseball but the Patriots did slip out of the National College Baseball Writers Association poll, in which they were 30th last week.

The Patriots will return to action on Wednesday when they play at Georgetown at 7 p.m. in Bethesda, Md. at Shirley Povich Field. Mason will then play a three-game weekend series at VCU. Mason's next home game is Tuesday, April 21 against George Washington at 3 p.m.