May 4, 2009

Fairfax, Va. - A pair of George Mason juniors received honors on Monday afternoon, one for accomplishments last week and the other for accomplishments this season as Justin Bour was named CAA Player of the Week and Chris Henderson was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The Patriots, ranked #27 in the nation by the National College Baseball Writer's Association and #29 by Collegiate Baseball, will take on Rollins on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the final home game of the season for the Patriots.

Bour hit .500 last week with three homers, nine runs and 14 RBI as the Patriots went 4-1 on the week. Mason leads the nation in wins (38-9) and winning percentage (.809). In last week's three-game sweep of CAA opponent Northeastern, Bour hit .583 with 10 RBI as the Patriots clinched the regular-season title. On the year, Bour is hitting .346 with 16 homers and 60 RBI.

Henderson was named 53 players named to the Bench Award Watch List which is given to the nation's top catcher. He is the only player from the CAA to be on the list, which will be trimmed to a group of semifinalists on May 14, finalists on June 3 and a winner on June 26. He entered last week second in the nation in hits, fourth in doubles, sixth in total bases and 17th in batting average. He is currently batting .429 with 85 hits, 12 homers, 62 runs, 46 RBI and 146 total bases.

The Patriots will face Rollins for the first time in school history on Tuesday, weather permitting. Mason will send Dan Gerjets to the mound. The junior will be making his second start since April 5 as he missed three turns in the rotation due to injury. Gerjets is 3-1 on the year and he's allowed just six walks in 35 and two-third innings. The Patriots, as a team, are batting .325 with a 4.01 ERA and a .973 fielding percentage.

Aside from Henderson and Bour, the Patriots have also gotten a big boost from Scott Krieger, who is hitting .396 with 18 homers, 74 RBI and 59 runs scored. He is the nation's active leader in homers, RBI, runs and total bases and he's the CAA's all-time leader in RBI and total bases.

Rollins is a Division II school based in Florida. The Tars are 27-24 on the year but just 2-14 on the road. Stephen Hiscock will get the start. In 14 starts he is 7-6 with a 6.34 ERA in 71 innings of work. Taylor Ferguson leads Rollins at the plate with a .430 average. Bryan Bennett is hitting .385 with six homers while Ben Hewett and Jesse More are hitting .351 and .345, respectively. Ryan Luker has nine homers, 47 RBI and 49 runs, all team highs.