Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Gene Depew Named Patriot League Baseball Coach of the Year
5/6/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 6, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Twenty-eighth year Bucknell baseball head coach Gene Depew was named the Patriot League Baseball Coach of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday. It is the fourth time Depew has been cited with the award, the most in the history of the Patriot League.
Depew, who won his 500th career game earlier this year, has guided the Bison to a 21-23 record this season and a No. 1 seed in this coming weekend's Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell was picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the preseason poll, but piled up a 13-7 league record, its most wins since 2006, to share the regular-season title with Army. The Bison are the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2003.
Depew, who led Bucknell to its fourth NCAA appearance last year, previously won Patriot League Coach of the Year honors in 1993, 1996 and 2003.
A head coach from each of the Patriot League's six teams has been named Coach of the Year over the last eight years with Depew and Army's Joe Sottolano the only multiple-time winners over that span.
The Patriot League also announced its other major award winners on Wednesday and Holy Cross junior Matt Perry was named Player of the Year, Army sophomore Ben Koenigsfeld was named Pitcher of the Year and Army's Zach Price copped Rookie of the Year plaudits.
A 1971 Bucknell graduate, Depew is the longest-tenured coach in Bison baseball history and has more wins than any other coach in any sport at Bucknell with his 519-595-7 career mark. To honor his tremendous accomplishments, Bucknell's baseball field was renamed Depew Field in 2003.
A native of Mifflintown, Pa., Depew was the recipient of both bachelor and master of science degrees in education from Bucknell. Football was the first sport for which Depew was a coach, as he oversaw the Bison gridders' defensive line from 1972-1992. It was in 1974 that Depew began his current occupation, first as an assistant coach for the baseball team until 1981, after which he assumed the lead role.
Depew will lead the Bison, who have won at least 20 games for the 11th time in the last 14 years, into a best-of-three first-round Patriot League Tournament series against fourth-seeded Lafayette this weekend. A doubleheader will be played Saturday at noon at Depew Field. The deciding game of the series is slated for Sunday at noon, if necessary. The team that wins the series will advance on to the following weekend's championship series against either Army or Holy Cross.
