April 27, 2009

George Mason junior catcher Chris Henderson is having one of the best single seasons in school history and on Monday afternoon, he was honored by the CAA for the second time this season as he received the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year award. He shares the award with Gary Helmick of Towson.

Henderson was 16 of 25 on the week for a .640 average with a homer, five doubles, six RBI and eight runs scored as the Patriots, ranked 28th in the nation by the NCBWA and 29th by Collegiate Baseball, went 4-1 on the week. Against Hofstra, in a CAA sweep, Henderson was 11 for 15 with five RBI and five runs scored.

On the year, Henderson is hitting .436 with 20 doubles, 11 home runs, 42 RBI and 52 runs scored. He has a .500 on-base percentage and a .754 slugging percentage. He has committed just one error on the year. He is on pace to break the school record for single-season hits and single-season batting average and he is currently second all-time in school history in career batting average. He is two doubles shy of the school's career record.

Henderson and the Patriots (34-8) will next take the field on Tuesday when they play at UMBC at 7 p.m. Mason leads the nation in winning percentage. The Retrievers are 9-27 on the year and they are hitting .295 on the year with a 6.69 ERA and a .942 fielding percentage. Shawn Retz has been their biggest offensive threat with a .423 average and nine home runs. He is slugging .708. The only other UMBC player hitting better than .325 is Brad Brainer who is hitting .362. The only other player with more than five home runs is Tom Meaney, who has eight long balls.

Mason is hitting .326 on the year with a 3.77 ERA and a .973 fielding percentage. Those would all be the best marks in school history if the Patriots maintain those levels. Aside from Henderson, Scott Krieger is having a tremendous season as well. He is hitting .389 with 17 homers, 62 RBI and 50 runs scored. He is slugging .815 and he has five steals in six attempts. Krieger is the nation's active career leader in home runs, RBI and total bases. He broke the school's career hits record on Saturday and the next run he scores will give him that school record as well. Krieger is first all-time in CAA history in total bases and he will tie the career record for CAA RBI with his next run batted in.