Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Buursma Tabbed Patriot League Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year
5/13/2008 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 13, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After being named the 2008 Patriot League Player of the Year last week, Bucknell baseball senior co-captain Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) has been tabbed the league's Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday. Buursma becomes the fifth student-athlete in program history to garner the award and joins Frank Fresconi as the only two individuals to be selected as both the Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in their careers with the Bison.
The scholar-athlete award is the latest in a long list of honors Buursma has collected in his four seasons at Bucknell. In addition to his PL Player of the Year recognition, Buursma has received much national attention in the recent weeks as he was added to the 2008 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List, was selected as one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and was named to the Dick Howser Trophy Watch List. He is the only student-athlete in the nation that is up for all three awards.
Buursma earned a First Team All-Patriot League selection as an outfielder this spring, which marked the fifth all-league recognition of his career. He is the first Bucknell player to collect five all-league accolades, matching the second-highest total in league history. Buursma was also recognized among his peers at Bucknell as he won the Christy Mathewson Award at Bucknell's annual Senior Athletic Awards Banquet on Apr. 29, presented to the most outstanding athletes in the senior class.
Buursma finished the regular season as the Patriot League leader with a .400 batting average, 11 home runs and a .725 slugging percentage and currently paces the Bison with 34 RBI to go along with six doubles and 29 runs scored. A two-way standout, Buursma has contributed on the mound this season, as well. After picking up victories in two scoreless relief appearances last weekend, helping Bucknell advance past Army into the Patriot League championship series, he now leads the league with a 2.87 ERA and a record of 7-3.
Through three-plus seasons with the Orange and Blue, Buursma has become one of the most decorated players in program history, earning a spot on the ABCA All-East Region First Team as a relief pitcher in 2006 in addition to his five all-league accolades. He was taken in 43rd Round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Mariners as a pitcher and is a two-time member of the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Watch List.
Buursma holds the school's career saves record with 15 and finished 2007 with the second lowest ERA in Patriot League history, 1.65. This season, Buursma broke the school record for home runs on against Lehigh on Apr. 27 when he hit his 22nd of his career and will likely finish his time with the Bison ranking in the top-10 in program history for 15 career pitching and hitting categories, with his name appearing at least 12 times on the single season lists. He is now one win shy of matching the school single season record of eight wins.
Away from the diamond, Buursma has performed equally as well in the classroom. He recently collected ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team honors as a designated hitter for a second consecutive season, becoming eligible for Academic All-America recognition. He boasts a 3.64 grade-point average as an economics major with a philosophy minor and has been named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll twice and to the Dean's List in six of seven semesters. During the fall of his junior year, Buursma spent the semester studying abroad at Oxford.
Bucknell will vie for its fourth Patriot League title this Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, against Navy in Annapolis, Md. Game one between the No. 4-seeded Bison and the No. 2-seeded Midshipmen is slated to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, while the teams will play game two on Saturday, beginning at noon, with the third contest schedule for 30 minutes following the conclusion of game two, if necessary.
