SELINSGROVE, Pa . – Susquehanna University head baseball coach Denny Bowers has been named the Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year, while sophomore Brian Ahearn was named second-team All-Conference at designated hitter in voting by the league's eight head coaches, the conference announced Monday.

Bowers led the Crusaders to their best record since 2000 in his first year as head coach, as the squad finished 12-21-1 overall and in fifth place in the Commonwealth Conference with a 10-11 league mark, remaining alive for a postseason berth until the final game of the season.

A 2000 graduate of Susquehanna, Bowers was a four-year letterwinner as a pitcher and outfielder for the Crusaders from 1997 to 2000, and served as an assistant coach from 2002 through 2005 until taking over as head coach last summer.

Ahearn (Avon, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) led the Crusaders with a .402 batting average and is presently tied for fifth in the conference in doubles with 12. He finished second on the team in runs batted in with 21 and in hits with 33, and his average would be the third-best in the Commonwealth Conference had he met the minimum of 2.5 at-bats per game.