Bucknell University Athletics
Five Bucknell Baseball Players Receive All-Patriot League Recognition
5/10/2006 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Five members of the Bucknell baseball squad were named to the 2006 All-Patriot League first and second teams the league office announced on Wednesday. Sophomore Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School), senior Matt Capece (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic), senior Kyle Walter and sophomore Chris Pieper (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber) were all first team selections. Buursma earned a second honor, joining junior Ryan Gryskevicz (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) on the All-League second team, as well.
Buursma finished the regular season with a 0.93 ERA, nine saves, a record of 1-1 and 29 strikeouts in 29 innings of work to earn All-Patriot League first team honors as a relief pitcher. He was also named to the Second Team All-Patriot League squad as a first baseman after hitting .276 with eight doubles, four triples, four home runs, 25 runs scored and 22 RBI over 44 games on the year. Buursma is just the sixth player in the history of the Patriot League to receive multiple league honors in the same season and the fifth player in league history to be an All-League selection at three different positions after being named to the second team as a designated hitter his freshman season.
Walter led the Bison in 2006 with a .348 average, 17 doubles, three triples, three home runs, 32 runs scored and 36 RBI on his way to his third-career first team selection and fourth All-League honor as an outfielder. He is the first Bucknell player and second in Patriot League history to earn All-League honors all four years of his collegiate career. The only other player with All-Patriot League honors as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior was Navy's Toph Lake who was an outfielder/designated hitter for the Midshipmen from 1995-1998.
Capece, Pieper and Gryskevicz all picked up their first career All-League accolades. This season, Capece hit .345 and saw action in 44 of Bucknell's 45 games, with eight doubles, a triple, 29 runs scored and 25 RBI. Earning first team honors as a shortstop, Capece led all hitters in Patriot League play with an average of .447 over 20 league games.
Pieper was named to the All-League first team as a designated hitter after batting .407 with 18 RBI, 16 runs, six doubles, two triples and two home runs over 33 games with 26 starts. Gryskevicz was honored as a second team outfielder and hit .341 in 40 games with 11 doubles, two triples, 22 RBI and 25 runs scored.
Bucknell (23-22, 13-7 Patriot League) will return to action at the Patriot League Tournament on May 13, when the Bison will take on Lafayette at noon in Bethlehem, Pa. The teams will play a single elimination game for the right to face Lehigh in a best-of-three series for the league championship.
