2012-13 Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball Teams release dates:
College Division Team: (below) 
NCAA Division III Team: Wed., May 29 release
NCAA Division II Team: Thur., May 30 release
NCAA Division I Team: Fri., May 31 release
Note: The four divisional Capital One Academic All-America® softball teams were announced last week.
• Capital One Academic All-America® website
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Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Baseball Team
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TOWSON, Md. – Senior second baseman Alan (AJ) Spanel of Doane College leads the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
A biochemistry major with a perfect 4.00 G.P.A., Spanel has been chosen as the winner of the Academic All-America® of the Year award for the College Division basetball Team.
The Norfolk, Neb., native is a repeat member of the Capital One Academic All-America® first team, receiving the honor in 2012. Spanel posted a .321 batting average with eight doubles, a triple, a home run and 22 RBI’s. He also scored 32 runs and led the Tigers with 17 stolen bases.
While helping Doane to a 32-20 record, Spanel played 198 games in his career at Doane. He had a .334 lifetime average with 29 doubles, seven triples, two home runs and 122 RBI’s. He scored 128 times and swiped 28 bases. Spanel is a three-time letter winner and was named to the All-Great Plains Athletic Conference first team in 2013 and second team in 2011.
Spanel is one of four honorees who was also named to the Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball first team in 2012. Infielders Jacob Harrison of William Woods University, Beau Kelly of Nebraska Wesleyan University and designated hitter Jacob Storrer of Arizona Christian University are repeat first team picks. Pitcher Matt Thomas of William Woods University and outfielder Benji Sutherland of Biola University made the third team in 2012.
The 11 members of the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.80. Spanel and Beckham both have perfect 4.00 G.P.A's.
Thomas and Harrison represent Williams Woods on the first team. They helped the Owls to a 29-17 overall record.
A junior physical education major at Williams Woods with a 3.65 G.P.A., Thomas earned All-AMC first team honors after posting a 4-1 record with seven saves and a 1.73 E.R.A. In 26 innings of work, the Brashear, Mo., native had 19 strikeouts. His seven saves rank him 25th in the NAIA. Thomas also helped the Owls offensively, recording a .311 average with 10 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 27 RBI’s.
A senior exercise science and sports management double major at William Woods with a 3.84 G.P.A., Harrison ended the 2013 season with a .333 average, scoring 32 times, adding two doubles, one triple, two home runs and 26 RBI’s. The Fulton, Mo., native made the All-AMC first team as an infielder this season after making the teams as utility player twice.
Kelly, a senior with a double major of business administration and history at Nebraska Wesleyan and carries a 3.94 G.P.A., captured an All-GPAC honorable mention as a first baseman for the Prairie Wolves. The Colorado Springs, Col., native batted .330 with seven doubles, a triple and 14 RBI’s, helping Nebraska Wesleyan to a 16-20 record. Kelly owns the Prairie Wolves’ single-season record for putouts (276) and ranks fourth all-time in program history with 801.
A senior biology major for Arizona Christian with a 3.72 G.P.A., Storrer had a .278 batting average with three doubles, a triple and nine RBI’s to help the Firestorm post a 31-27 overall mark. The Phoenix, Ariz., native ranks in the top 10 in 15 of Arizona Christian’s career statistical categories and is the program’s all-time leader in triples (six), walks (51) and runs scored (77).
A senior pastoral ministries major at Biola with a 3.86 G.P.A., Sutherland batted .344 with 13 doubles and 34 RBI’s as an outfielder for the Eagles. Earning All-GSAC first team honors, the Orange, Cal., native recorded 16 multi-hit and seven multi-RBI games this season to help Biola to a 25-26 record. Sutherland also led the Eagles with seven stolen bases. He directs the Biola Athletic Ministry program on campus.
Junior pitcher Steven Beckham of Olivet Nazarene, senior catcher Ian Sikes of Hannibal-LaGrange, senior infielder Andrew Firth of British Columbia, senior outfielder Brad Lineberry of Madonna and senior outfielder Don McDuffee complete the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball first team.
A junior actuarial science major with a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. at Olivet Nazarene, Beckham posted a 9-2 record with a 3.82 E.R.A. In 74 2/3 innings, he struck out 46 batters and had five complete games with one shutout. The Mt. Vernon, Ill., native helped the Tigers to a 35-21 overall record and the CCAC South Division championship for the second year in a row. His nine wins rank him ninth in the NAIA.
Sikes is a senior secondary education and art major with a 3.69 G.P.A. The Edwardsville, Ill., earned All-AMC first team honors as he batted .365 and led the Trojans with 24 doubles and 37 RBI’s. Sikes also hit three home runs and scored 25 runs while helping Hannibal-LaGrange to a 21-23 record. His 24 doubles rank him fourth in the NAIA.
A senior kinesiology major for University of British Columbia with a 3.75 G.P.A., Firth led the team with 72 hits while batting .387 and earning All-NAIA west team honors. A second baseman from London, Ontario, also led the team with 40 RBI’s to go along with 10 doubles, a triple and 38 runs scored. He helped the Thunderbirds post a 25-19 record.
Lineberry is a senior criminal justice major with a 3.57 G.P.A. The Canton, Mich., native helped the Crusaders win the WHAC regular-season championship and a berth in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. The Crusaders finished with a 36-12 record. Lineberry collected All-WHAC first team honors while batting .397 with nine doubles, four triples, a home run and 23 RBI’s. He played in the outfield for the first time after earning All-WHAC honorable mention notice at first base in 2012.
McDuffee completes the first team. A senior business management and marketing major with a 3.79 G.P.A. McDuffee earned All-KIAC first team honors after leading the Pioneers to a 39-16 record. A native of Champaign, Ill., he led the Pioneers to a berth in the NAIA Tournament. He batted .379 with 11 doubles, five triples, one home run and 38 RBI’s. McDuffie helped Point Park won both the KIAC regular-season and tournament championships.
The Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball second team consists of pitchers Josh DeGraaf of Taylor University and Nick Turner of Biola University, catcher Alex Heideman of Nebraska Wesleyan University, infielders Jesse Dodd of College of Idaho, Jason Hicks of Belhaven University, Ryan Kiesel of Trinity Christian College and Keven McDonald of Robert Morris (Ill.) University. Outfielders Michael Burns of Ashford University, Ryan Grabowski of Peru State College and David Kuhne of University of St. Francis (Ill.) join designated hitter Sean Fitzgerald of Benedictine University at Springfield (Ill.) to complete the second team.
The third team consists of pitchers Chad Modomo of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) and Daniel Pulliam of Lindsey Wilson as well as catcher Adam Cellini of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.). Tom Birko of Point Park, Jordan Coffey of Taylor, Trent Daniels of Mid-American Christian and Johnny Griffith of Seward County Community College are the third team infielders. Outfielders Steven Karkenny of The Master’s College, Kendall Konopka of Arizona Christian Univerity and Brent Leslie of Lubbock Christian, and designated hitter Zach Dillman of Union College (Ky.) round out the third team.
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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 16,000 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, please contact:
Dan O’Connell, Towson University
Academic All-America ® Vice-Chair for Publicity/Communications
doconnell@towson.edu
(410) 704-3102
Jay Stancil, Union College (Ky.)
Academic All-America ® Coordinator of Publicity
jstancil@unionky.edu
(606) 546-1292