2014 Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball Teams release dates: 
College Division Team: below
NCAA Division III Team: Wed., May 28
NCAA Division II Team: Thr., May 29
NCAA Division I Team: Fri., May 30
• Capital One Academic All-America® website
• Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball College Division Teams PDF version Word version
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Senior designated hitter
EJ Grochowalski of Davenport University highlights the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Baseball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Baseball Team is comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.
A finance major with a perfect 4.00 G.P.A., Grochowalski has been named the Academic All-America® of the Year award for College Division baseball.
The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native delivered a .355 batting average with 14 doubles, two triples, a home run and 34 RBI while making first-team all-Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.
Grochowalski added 65 hits, a .470 slugging percentage and a .419 on-base percentage for the Panthers. Grochowalski led Davenport to a program-best 42-17 record plus the program’s first WHAC regular-season championship, first WHAC Tournament title and initial appearance in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.
Grochowalski finished his career on a nine-game hitting streak. Grochowalski produced a .344 career average with 118 hits, 24 doubles, five triples, six homers and 74 RBI. He started 103 of the 106 games he played for Davenport. Grochowalski became a two-time academic all-conference choice.
The Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball team includes four repeat selections. Pitcher
Josh DeGraaf of Taylor University and outfielder
David Kuhne from University of St. Francis (Ill.) made the first team after being second-team honorees in 2013, while first team infielder
Tom Birko of Point Park University was on the third team last year. Infielder
Matt Thomas of William Woods University landed on the second team after being a first teamer last year. Thomas is a three-time Academic All-American after being named to the second team in 2012.
DeGraaf owns a 3.91 G.P.A. while majoring in psychology at Taylor. DeGraaf, a junior from Morris, Illinois, snagged his second consecutive Crossroads League Pitcher of the Year award while posting an 8-3 record with a 2.51 earned run average, six complete games and 93 strikeouts in 89.2 innings pitched. DeGraaf garnered the Gates-Howard Award as Taylor’s male student-athlete of the year.
A graduate student at Point Park with a 3.70 G.P.A., while pursuing a master’s of business administration,
Birko supplied the Pioneers with a .335 average, 51 runs scored, 64 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, two homers and 40 RBI. The Kennedy Township, Pennsylvania, native made the All-Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference second team and Gold Glove team while leading Point Park to the league tournament title and the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. Birko, who maintained a 3.64 G.PA. as he earned his bachelor’s degree in sports, arts and entertainment management, holds the program’s career record with 220 hits.
Kuhne, a senior finance major with a 3.80 G.P.A., shared the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the year award as St. Francis’ regular center fielder. From Metamora, Illinois, Kuhne batted .409 with 59 runs scored, 81 hits, 20 doubles, three triples, three homers, 29 RBI and 19 stolen bases. Kuhne pushed the Fighting Saints to the CCAC regular-season championship and an NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round showing. Kuhne became a four-time all-conference performer and three-time league Gold Glove recipient.
Pitcher
Nathan Roth of Doane College, catcher
Caleb Upton of Hinds Community College, infielders
Sam Lind of Cumberland University,
Mitchell Osnowitz of Lindsey Wilson College and
Riley Swanson of Mount Vernon Nazarene University, plus outfielders
Zane Dillon of Benedictine University at Springfield and
Chris Hall of Cumberland complete the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball first team.
A senior physics major for Doane with a 3.85 G.P.A.,
Roth compiled a 6-3 record with a 1.97 ERA, seven complete games, three shutouts and 57 strikeouts in 64 innings. Originally from Camarillo, California, Roth became a first-team All-Great Plains Athletic Conference choice for the third time as a Tiger. Roth contributed to Doane’s 20-0 GPAC regular-season championship team that advanced to the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. In his career, Roth went 24-9 with a 2.17 ERA, 207 strikeouts in 224.1 innings and four All-GPAC nods.
Upton, a sophomore from Natchez, Mississippi, put together a 3.95 G.P.A. majoring in education.
Upton hits .316 with 54 hits, 10 doubles, six homers and 42 RBI. Upton has propelled Hinds to the NJCAA Region XXIII championship to reach the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma. Hinds knocked off top-ranked Jones County Community College and second-ranked Louisiana State University-Eunice in the regional. Upton is a three-time President’s Scholar recipient and became Hinds’ 2013-14 Eagle award winner for achievements in the classroom, in the community and on the playing field.
A graduate student earning his business administration degree with a 3.56 G.P.A. at Cumberland,
Lind leads the NAIA in total bases (158) and at-bats (246) while ranking among the national leaders in homers (14) and RBI (79). Lind has a .390 average with 58 runs scored, 96 hits and 14 doubles entering the NAIA World Series. Lind fueled Cumberland’s run to the Mid-South Conference Tournament championship as well as winning the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Kingsport Bracket while becoming a first-team all-conference second baseman.
Osnowitz, a senior from Bloomington, Illinois, owns a 3.80 G.P.A. working towards a business administration degree at Lindsey Wilson. Osnowitz piled up a .375 batting average with 41 runs scored, 72 hits, 13 doubles, 13 homers and 45 RBIs to snag first-team All-Mid-South honors for the Blue Raiders. He is a two-time all-league third baseman.
A sophomore business management major for Mount Vernon Nazarene with a 3.91 G.P.A.,
Swanson collected Crossroads League Player of the Year and National Christian College Athletic Association All-American accolades. A shortstop from Mount Vernon, Ohio, Swanson hit .383 with 72 hits, 16 doubles, 10 homers and 50 RBI.
Dillon is a senior criminal justice major with a 3.93 G.P.A. The Danville, Illinois, native posted a .314 average, 26 runs scored, 49 hits, six doubles, a triple, one home run and 24 RBI for Benedictine-Springfield. Dillon took honorable-mention All-American Midwest Conference and academic all-conference honors.
Hall completes the first team. A sophomore accounting major with a 3.99 G.P.A., Hall picked up first-team All-Mid-South acclaim and the conference’s Champions of Character award for Cumberland. A native of Lebanon, Tennessee, Hall has sparked the Bulldogs’ NAIA World Series run with his .416 average, 68 runs scored, 92 hits, 11 doubles, three triples, one homer, 36 RBI and 11 steals.
The 11 members of the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.85.
The Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball second team consists of pitchers
Russell Harmening of Westmont College and
Stetson Nelson of Embry-Riddle (Fla.) University; catcher
Derek Fletcher of William Woods; and infielders
Boone Farrington of Biola University,
Forrest Smith of Oklahoma City University,
Matt Thomas of William Woods and
Bryan Young of Auburn University at Montgomery. Outfielders
Andrew Fila of Mount Vernon Nazarene,
Hayden Hillyer of Auburn Montgomery and
Ryan Waack of St. Ambrose University along with designated hitter
Landon Uetz of University of Jamestown round out the second team.
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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 20,000 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 or
www.capitaloneacademicallamerica.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College (
mfmaceachern@yhc.edu) (706) 379-5106
Academic All-America ® Vice Co-Chair for Publicity/Communications
Rich Tortorelli, Oklahoma City University (
rtortorelli@okcu.edu) (405) 208-5304
Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity