Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball Team release dates:
College Division Team: Tue., May 29
Division III Team: Wed., May 30
Division II Team: Thur., May 31
Division I Team: Fri., June 1
• 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball Team (PDF)
• 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball Team (doc)
TOWSON, Md. – Senior third baseman Bryan Lippincott of Concordia University, St. Paul (Minn.) University leads the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
A finance major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., Lippincott has been selected as the Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year for Division II baseball. This is the second consecutive national award for the Des Moines, Iowa native. He was selected as the baseball Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year in the College Division in 2011.
The Capital One Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist C
oSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011-12 Division III Academic All-America® teams program.
The leading hitter in NCAA Division II with a .494 average, Lippincott is a consensus first team All-America pick, earning notice from Daktronics, the ABCA and the NCBWA. A finalist for the Tino Martinez Award which is presented to the top Division II player in the nation, Lippincott is second in the nation in on-base percentage (.594) and third in slugging percentage (.864).
A starter in all 46 games for the Golden Bears, Lippincott scored 49 runs while hitting 19 doubles with 10 home runs and 52 runs batted in while leading Concordia to a 21-25 record. A repeat selection on the Capital One Division II Academic All-America® first team, he finished his career with a .428 batting average, setting a school record. He also set school records for doubles (63), triples (12) and runs scored (170). His 254 base hits are the second-highest total in school history. He also smashed 28 home runs with 165 runs batted in during his career.
Tusculum College, which posted a 48-10 record and won the South Atlantic Conference championship, placed two student-athletes, senior catcher Cody Coffman and junior pitcher Taylor Rakes, on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball first team.
The 11 members of the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division II Baseball first team have a 3.82 G.P.A.
A physical therapy major with a 3.59 G.P.A., Coffman split time between first base and catcher this season. A second team All-SAC selection, Coffman led the Pioneers with a .417 batting average. One of the top 15 hitters in the nation, he earned first team All-All-America notice and was named to the all-tournament team at the NCAA Regionals. One of the NCAA leaders with 90 hits, he had 19 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 62 runs batted in.
A junior business and economics major with a 3.88 G.P.A., Rakes was the second-best pitcher for the Pioneers. He started 15 games and posted a 10-1 record with a 3.18 E.R.A. He pitched 85 innings and walked 19 batters with 61 strikeouts. Rakes also led the team with four complete games and pitched one shutout. The South Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award winner, Rakes also earned second team All-SAC notice.
Senior Ryan Griffin of Lindenwood University is the other pitcher on the Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball first team. A senior marketing major with a 3.89 G.P.A., Griffin led the Lions to a 30-19 record while earning first team All-Independent Collegiate Athletic Conference honors. A native of Sydney, Australia, Griffin was the Lions’ ace relief pitcher and pitched in 30 games. He compiled a 6-1 record with 11 saves and a 1.65 ERA in 71 innings.
Seniors Andrew Ciennik of Wayne State and Joe Wendle of West Chester join junior Drake Austin of Quincy to complete Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball infield.
A biological sciences major with a 3.75 G.P.A., Ciennik was a four-year starter at second base. As a senior, he helped Wayne State post a 34-21 record and earn a berth in the NCAA Midwest regional. A two-time All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference pick, Ciennik was the Warriors’ second-leading hitter with a .350 average. A native of Waterford, Mich., he started all 55 games and scored 32 runs. He also had seven doubles, one home run and 26 runs batted in.
A pre-physical therapy major with a 3.59 G.P.A., Wendle has led No. 13 West Chester into the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II World Series in North Carolina. Honored as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Wendle won the PSAC Triple Crown by batting .399 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI’s. A four-year starter at second base, he has also scored 62 runs and has a .966 on-base percentage. A native of Lincoln University, Pa., Wendle has led the Golden Rams to a 44-10 record, the PSAC title and a regional championship. He has been named as a first team All-American by Daktronics and the NCBWA.
A first team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference shortstop, Austin is a computer science and mathematics major with a 3.98 G.P.A. The second-leading hitter for the Hawks, he batted .340 with 35 runs scored. A native of Wilton, Iowa, Austin had 14 doubles, five home runs and 32 RBI’s while leading Quincy to a 28-21 record.
Seniors Antonio Callaway (Mount Olive) and Chris Eichten (Southwest Minnesota State) lead the Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball first team outfield. Junior Phil Imholte of St. Cloud State was also named to the first team outfield.
A business management and human resources major with a 3.64 G.P.A., Callaway led Mount Olive to a 44-10 record and the Conference Carolinas championship. The starting centerfielder for the Trojans, Callaway earned first team all-conference honors after batting .350 with 72 runs scored. A Lawrenceville, Ga. native, Callaway had 11 doubles, three home runs and 51 RBI’s with 39 stolen bases. He helped Mount Olive earn a number one ranking in Division II over the final weeks of the regular season before the Trojans were upset in the regional tournament.
A biology major with a 3.84 G.P.A., Eichten led Southwest Minnesota State to a 22-23 record as the Mustangs’ top hitter. A .354 batter, he scored 26 runs and had 17 RBI’s. An outstanding defensive player who had a 1.000 fielding percentage, the Wabasso, Minn. native finished his career with a .345 batting mark.
Imholte, a radio broadcast and communications studies major with a 3.86 G.P.A., led St. Cloud State to a record-setting season. The Huskies finished the season with a 48-14 record and were NCAA regional runners-up. A first team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection, he batted .371, sixth in the NSIC. An honorable mention All-American, Imholte also set school records with 31 stolen bases and 36 times hit by pitch. The St. Cloud, Minn. native scored a league-leading 76 runs and had 78 hits along with a .516 on-base percentage.
Senior designated hitter Mitch Wolfe of Eastern New Mexico rounds out the Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball first team. A history major with a 4.00 G.P.A. and an honorable mention All-Lone Star Conference selection, Wolfe batted .308 as a senior with 32 runs scored, 16 doubles, four home runs and 26 runs batted in. A native of Litchfield Park, N.M., Wolfe earned a spot on the Lone Star Conference All-Academic team.
On the Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball second team, there is one graduate student, 10 seniors and a sophomore. Arkansas Monticello grad student Josh Chism, an infielder, tops the second team. He is joined by pitchers Mark Himmelberg (Rockhurst) and Elias Tuma (UC San Diego), catcher Devon Myers (Truman State), and infielders Nick Adams (Rollins), Jacob Karr (Wingate), and Bret Schwartz (Central Missouri). Senior outfielders Josh Haley of UNC Pembroke, Buddy Sosnoskie (Francis Marion) and Bryant Walker of King (Tenn.) are also part of the second team, along with designated hitter Andy Hall of Missouri Science & Tech. Sophomore outfielder David Atwood of Young Harris completes the second team.
Senior catcher Kevin Spatkowski and junior pitcher Tim Flight of Southern New Hampshire headline the Capital One Academic All-America® third team. Junior Ryan Thompson (Franklin Pierce) is the other pitcher on the third team while seniors Eitan Maoz of UNC Pembroke, Doug Snover of Angelo State and Adam Thygesen (Southwest Minnesota State) made the third team as infielders. Junior Robbie Zinsmeister of Indiana (Pa.) is the other infielder on the third team while the designated hitter is sophomore Clayton Miller (Armstrong Atlantic State). Senior Lee Voth-Gaeddert of Missouri Science & Tech and junior Joe Petosa (Felician) complete the third team as outfielders.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (
www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., and ING Bank, fsb,
had $216.5 billion in deposits and $294.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of March 31, 2012. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One and ING Direct offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team, Capital One Academic All-America Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.
About the Capital One Academic All-America® Program
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports. For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.
For more information, contact:
Dan O’Connell
Towson University
Academic All-America® Vice-Chair for Publicity/Communications
doconnell@towson.edu
(410) 704-3102
Shane Meling
Texas A&M Kingsville
Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity
shane.meling@tamuk.edu
(361) 593-2870