May 20, 2008

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis junior infielder Ryan Bennett (Kansas City, Mo./Rockhurst) picked up honorable mention All-Conference honors today, as announced by the Atlantic 10 Conference. In addition, senior catcher Casey Moore (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Holt) was named to the league's All-Academic team.

Bennett missed the early portion of the year due to injury but joined the club just prior to the A-10 season and emerged as SLU's leading hitter. He finished with a .357 average, which is the highest average for a Billiken since the 1999 campaign. In conference games, Bennett hit a team-leading .379 with a team-high 36 hits.

In a key A-10 series against George Washington, Bennett pounded out eight hits in three games and drove in four runs in leading the Billikens to the series win. In all, he had 15 multi-hit games. In addition, Bennett finished second on the team with 15 stolen bases and led the squad with nine sacrifice bunts.

Bennett, who has been granted an extra year of eligibility to return next season, is 13th all-time on SLU's batting average list with a career mark of .322.

Moore, who is currently enrolled in the master's program at SLU after graduating last year with a degree in communications, started behind the plate in 50 games, including every matchup in league play. He was second in the conference in runners caught trying to steal, and he registered a .984 fielding percentage. Offensively, Moore hit .266 in conference games and tied for fourth on the club with 26 runs scored.

The Billikens closed out the 2008 campaign with a 24-29 record and a 9-17 mark in league play. Their 24 wins are an increase from the 16 that last year's team achieved. In addition, head coach Darin Hendrickson accumulated the most victories by a first-year head coach in SLU baseball history.