Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Places Three on Academic All-District II Team
5/7/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 7, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the second consecutive year the Bucknell baseball team has had three players named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II First Team, announced Thursday by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata), Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West) and Chris Yamaguchi (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South) were the three Bison honored with positions on the team and each will move to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration.
This marks the fourth consecutive year, and 10th time in the last 11 years, Bucknell has placed players on the Academic All-District squad. Nine different players have combined for 10 citations over the most recent four-year span. To be eligible for a nomination, a student-athlete must carry a minimum 3.30 grade-point average and be a starter or key reserve on his or her team.
A Second Team All-Patriot League selection in 2008, Allen is hitting a career-best .360 this year and is the only Bison to have played in all 44 games. The junior has started 80 consecutive contests at shortstop and currently owns a 13-game hitting streak. He has had three hitting streaks of at least eight games this year.
This year, Allen ranks sixth on Bucknell's single-season runs scored list (46), ninth in hits (62), ninth in doubles (13) and seventh in times hit by a pitch (11). He stands tied for eighth on the career runs list with 102, placing him within reach of the all-time record with his senior season still to come.
Off the field Allen owns a 3.59 grade-point average while majoring in civil engineering. A three-time Dean's List member and a two-time member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, Allen is a member of Chi Epsilon, a civil engineering honor society.
Brouse, a First Team All-Patriot League selection, is in the midst of a breakout year where he is hitting .348 with 10 home runs, 56 runs batted in and has scored 40 runs. He is tied for the Patriot League lead in home runs, ranks second in runs batted in and slugging percentage (.665) and is third in total bases (109).
A junior, Brouse, is among Bucknell's single-season leaders in slugging percentage (8th), home runs (t-4th), RBIs (4th) and total bases (5th). He recently had a 16-game hitting streak snapped and has failed to record a hit or an RBI in just four games this season.
An outfielder, Brouse is an economics and history double major and carries a 3.41 GPA. He has landed on both the Dean's List and Patriot League Academic Honor Roll twice.
Yamaguchi missed the 2008 campaign with an arm injury, but bounced back to earn First Team All-Patriot League honors as a starting pitcher this year. He is tied for the Patriot League lead with seven wins and leads the conference with a 3.53 ERA. His seven wins rank tied for fifth on the Bison single-season list, while his 1.38 walks per nine innings place him fourth on that ledger.
A right-hander, Yamaguchi limited opponents to three or fewer earned runs in five of his six regular-season starts and his ERA has been below 4.00 all year. He owns an overall record of 7-1, but was 4-1 with a 4.28 against Patriot League opponents.
Yamaguchi will graduate later this month with a degree in economics and classics. A six-time Dean's List selection and a Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member, Yamaguchi owns a cumulative GPA of better than 3.5. He is the treasurer for Sigma Chi fraternity and attended the Balfour Leadership Training Workshop.
Allen, Brouse and Yamaguchi will be in action this weekend as the Bison host Lafayette in a best-of-three Patriot League Tournament first round series. Bucknell, the top seed in the four-team field, will square off against the Leopards in a doubleheader on Saturday at noon. The deciding third game will take place Sunday, also starting at noon, if necessary. A radio and internet audio broadcast (SportsJuice.com) of the games will be available if the Bison softball team has been eliminated from its postseason tournament.
