FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5-2-01

Three AASU Players Named To All-Peach Belt Conference Baseball Team

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Senior pitcher B.J. Brinkmeier, junior catcher David Harriman and junior outfielder Kirk Nordness were named to the 2001 Peach Belt Conference team for the No. 16-ranked AASU Pirates by conference officials on Wednesday afternoon.

Brinkmeier ended the 2001 regular season as the Peach Belt Conference's leader in strikeouts, posting 97 Ks in 101.1 innings pitched. The St. Charles, Mo., native went 8-3 with a 3.46 ERA and won his last four starts, including wins over No. 24 Columbus State and No. 9 Georgia College & State. Brinkmeier's 97 strikeouts are the eighth-highest single season total in AASU baseball history and his career 170 strikeouts in two seasons at AASU are tied for eighth most ever as a Pirate.

Harriman posted a .346 batting average while leading the Pirates in home runs with nine and RBI with 53. The Surrey, British Columbia, native was the back-to-back Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week on April 10 and April 17, becoming the first AASU player to earn Player of the Week honors twice in one season since 1993.

Nordness led the Pirate regulars in hitting, posting a .392 average with five home runs and 44 RBI. The .392 average is the highest for an AASU player in the last 10 seasons and the Beaverton, Ore., native ranked second in the Peach Belt Conference in hitting.

The last time the Pirates placed three players on the All-Peach Belt Conference team came in 1998 – when AASU also placed a catcher (Andy Ysalgue), pitcher (Jeremy Wedel) and outfielder (David Ruhr) on the squad. The Pirates are currently awaiting word on a possible NCAA Regionals berth from the NCAA Division II Championships committee.

- Pirates -