MACON, Ga. – Senior outfielder Ryan Bear (Panama City, Fla./Mosley) highlighted a group of four UCF baseball players named to various All-Atlantic Sun baseball teams Tuesday by the league office. Bear was named to the A-Sun First Team while Drew Butera (Lake Mary, Fla./Bishop Moore), Kyle Bono (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary) and Dave Lambert (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) all garnered spots on the A-Sun All-Freshmen Team.
UCF led the league with three members on the all-freshmen team.
Bear had a spectacular season for the Golden Knights as he led the team in nine different offensive categories. The Panama City native hit .390 with 20 doubles, five triples, five home runs and 36 RBI in 56 games. The senior was the only UCF player to start every game this season and also led UCF with a 19-game hitting streak in 2003. Also an outstanding student, Bear was named to the Verizon Academic All-District III Team for his work in the classroom.
Butera finished the season as one of the nation’s top defensive catchers. The Lake Mary native threw out an amazing 51.2% (20-for-39) of runners attempting to steal against him while also hitting .305 with the bat. Butera also played extremely well at third base as he ended the year with a .985 fielding percentage.
Bono turned in one of the finest freshman pitching performances in school history. In 23 appearances, Bono was 4-2 with a 0.83 ERA in 32.2 innings of work. He struck out 43 batters and walked just 10 while opponents hit .179 against him. The UCF closer also saved two games for the Golden Knights.
Lambert finished the season as perhaps the hottest hitter in the Atlantic Sun Conference. In just 33 games including 21 starts, the Indiana native hit .403 with two home runs and 20 RBI. In A-Sun games, Lambert hit a blistering .500 (18-for-36) with two homers, 14 RBI and a .833 slugging percentage.