May 12, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - Four Patriot League Baseball student-athletes have been selected to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District University Teams. Bucknell seniors Jason Buursma, Mathew Wilson and Mark Angelo earned first-team honors on District II, while Army's J.P. Polchinski was a second-team selection on District I.
Buursma receives his second All-District honor for the Bison, while Wilson and Angelo take home their first. He won Patriot League Player of the Year honors and First-Tam All-League status by batting .400 with 11 home runs during the regular season, then pitched seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen to pick up both of Bucknell's victories in their semifinal series win at Army over the weekend. The Bison advance to face Navy in the Patriot League Championship series this weekend.
Buursma is on the list for the Brooks Wallace Award and Dick Howser Trophy, both given to the collegiate baseball player of the year. He is one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, and is the only student-athlete in the nation that is up for all three honors. Buursma boasts a 3.64 grade-point average as an economics major with a philosophy minor. He 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.
Wilson, one of two pitchers on the Academic All-District squad, was named to the All-Patriot League second team for the first time in his career this season. Wilson went 3-0 in three starts against Patriot League foes with a 2.14 ERA, 22 strikeouts and just six walks in 21 innings of work. At the start of the 2008 season, Wilson was named to preseason watch lists for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award and the Roger Clemens Award and was one of 30 initial candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. As a double major in Economics and Philosophy, Wilson holds a 3.49 cumulative GPA and is a two-time member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.
Angelo captured one of four infield spots on the Academic All-District team and, like Wilson, was honored as Second-Team All-Patriot League second team for his performance this spring. The first baseman posted a .335 average during the regular season with a team-best 55 hits. A 2007 member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and a Dean's List student, Angelo carries a 3.38 GPA as a management major with a minor in mathematics.
Polchinski earned Second-Team All-Patriot League honors at third base. He has a .295 batting average with four home runs, 25 RBI and 27 runs scored. The junior Economics major holds a 3.48 cumulative GPA.
The All-District honorees will all go on the ballot for Academic All-America consideration.
