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Jeff Palumbo begins his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Patriots. He is in charge of recruiting and he assists in the daily management of all aspects of the program while continuing to serve as a hitting coach and coordinating infield defense. In his first three years, he has guided four different players through the program and into the minor leagues. He has also worked with Scott Krieger, who tied the school's single-season home run record in 2007 and broke it, along with the school's career home run record, in 2008. Sophomore Justin Bour is on a pace to challenge that mark in the coming years. Palumbo was a standout with the Patriots from 2000-2004, graduating from Mason as the Colonial Athletic Association's two-time Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time All-CAA selection. As a senior, he was the Student-Athlete of the Year in the conference for baseball as well as Mason's Male Student-Athlete of the Year and Willard Award winner. Palumbo is Mason's all-time record holder in hits (283), at-bats (865), games played (218) and games started (217) and is second all-time in runs scored (205). He is also top 10 all-time at Mason in stolen bases (5th with 48), total bases (8th with 365), RBI (8th with 134) and walks (9th with 99). As a senior, Palumbo led the nation in runs scored (1.4 per game) and finished the season with a .402 average. He led Mason to an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament in 2004, Mason's first appearance in the postseason tournament since 1993. He was drafted in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by San Francisco and assigned to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. Palumbo played exceptionally well in the Northwest League and was named to the All-Star team, where he went 1 for 3. Palumbo was invited back the following spring by San Francisco but he chose instead to retire from professional baseball. |
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