Bay And Bennett Earn Mid-Season Honors
5/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 2, 2000
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University seniors Steve Bennett and Jason Bay were named as second team members of the midseason All-America team published in the May 1 edition of Baseball America. The publication lists potential All-America candidates at the midway point of the season by class with Bennett and Bay gaining recognition in the senior class.
For the year Steve Bennett (Helena, MT) has posted an 8-3 record with a 3.47 earned run average and 101 strike outs. Bennett has steadily moved up both the career and single season pitching record books at Gonzaga. His 101 strike outs for the season currently stand in fourth place as he became only the fifth different Bulldog pitcher to top the century mark in strike outs. His career total of 252 strike outs ties Bennett for third place with former Zag standout Darin Blood. Earlier this season, Bennett tied a school record with an 18 strike out performance against the University of Washington. For his efforts, Bennett was awarded the second of this three West Coast Conference Player of the Week honors. To date Bennett ranks in the career top ten in victories (20) and innings pitched (292.0). Bennett also ranks among the leaders in pitching for the West Coast Conference. His eight victories tie him for the conference lead while he ranks in the top three for earned run average, strike outs and innings pitched. Last week Bennett was named the Gonzaga Senior Athlete of the Year by the Bulldog Club. Bennett has also racked up awards during his WCC career, being named a WCC Honorable-Mention selection member as a freshman and a WCC Second Team member as a junior. Bennett was also a WCC All-Academic selection as a junior.
Senior Jason Bay (Trail, British Columbia) continues to swing a hot bat his senior season after smashing several Gonzaga records as a junior. Bay currently leads both Gonzaga and the West Coast Conference in batting average, hitting at a .387 clip. During the month of April, Bay moved his batting average to as high as .430 before tailing off slightly at the end of the month. His 11 home runs, 50 runs scored, 65 hits and 14 stolen bases all lead the Bulldog club and place him in the top ten in the West Coast Conference in each of those categories. Bay ranks second on the team with 11 doubles and third on the team with 37 RBI's. Earlier this season, Bay was named the Canadian Player of the Week by the Toronto Sun following a week in which hit .556. His season high 11 game hitting streak in mid-March is fourth longest on the team this season. Bay has amassed 23 multiple hit games on the season on his way to his league leading average. In his two season's as the Zags centerfielder, Bay has etched his named into the Gonzaga Hitting Record Book in several categories. Bay's 31 career home runs place him third on the career list, while his 20 bombs as a junior were the second highest single season total in GU history leading to WCC First Team honors. Last season, Bay broke onto the WCC scene with a record setting 74 RBI's, while this season many schools have pitched around him leading to his team high 30 walks. Bay still has driven in 111 runs for his career which ranks 10th on the GU career RBI chart.
All total, Bay and Bennett were just two of the seven players from the West Coast Conference selected by Baseball America for the Mid-Season All-America list. Only Pepperdine catcher Dane Sardinha and San Diego outfielder Kevin Reese made first team honors for their respective class. Other WCC selections for the list include Pepperdine outfielder Dan Garcia, Loyola Marymount catcher Scott Walter and San Francisco first-baseman Tag Bozied.
