2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball Teams release dates: 
College Division Teams: below
NCAA Division III Teams: Tue., June 2
NCAA Division II Teams: Wed., June 3
NCAA Division I Teams: Thr., June 4
• Capital One Academic All-America® website
• Capital One Academic All-America® Baseball Team - College Division
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – Josh DeGraaf of Taylor University headlines the 2014-15 Capital Academic All-America® College Division Baseball Team as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Baseball Teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.
DeGraaf, a psychology major with a 3.92 G.P.A., has garnered the Academic All-America® of the Year award for the College Division baseball team.
DeGraaf joined an elite group of three-time Academic All-Americans with his selection as a senior. DeGraaf reeled in first-team status for the second year in a row. DeGraaf has also been named a three-time Crossroads League Pitcher of the Year, three-time all-Crossroads League, the 2015 Crossroads League Gold Glove winner for pitchers, a three-time first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District choice, 2014 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete and two-time Gates-Howard Award winner as Taylor’s male student-athlete of the year.
The Morris, Illinois, native closed his career by posting career highs of eight victories, a 1.80 earned run average, a .218 batting average against and eight complete games out of 11 starts. He also fanned 81 in 75 innings of work while only allowing 12 extra-base hits and 11 walks. DeGraaf ranked among the top 30 pitchers in the NAIA in ERA while leading the Crossroads League in strikeouts and ERA for hurlers with at least 45 innings pitched.
DeGraaf will leave the Taylor baseball program as one of the most accomplished and decorated pitchers in school history. During the last four seasons, DeGraaf piled up 29 wins, 17 complete games, 258 strikeouts, 2.95 ERA and 271.2 innings over 51 appearances on the mound for the Trojans. Taylor went 32-21 with its seventh consecutive season with at least 32 wins.
Joining DeGraaf as repeat selections to the Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball team are
Russell Harmening of Westmont College,
Riley Swanson of Mount Vernon Nazarene University and
Stetson Nelson of Embry-Riddle (Fla.) University.
Harmening owns a 3.77 G.P.A. working towards a mathematics degree. The Golden State Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, Harmening put together a 10-3 record, 1.59 ERA, two complete games, two shutouts and 95 strikeouts in 113 innings this season. The junior from Oceanside, California, allowed just 17 walks and a .173 opponents’ batting average while aiding Westmont to a single-season school record of 41 wins this year. Harmening holds the school record for career wins at 28. He took second-team Capital One Academic All-America® honors last year.
Swanson boasts of a 3.95 G.P.A. studying management and accounting. Swanson, a junior shortstop from Mount Vernon, Ohio, became a two-time Crossroads League selection while picking up a conference Gold Glove award. Swanson supplied Mount Vernon Nazarene with a .302 average, seven doubles, four home runs and 24 runs batted in to go along with a .963 fielding percentage. Among the NAIA, he ranked fourth with 3.51 assists per game and 18th with 172 assists this year. Swanson grabbed first-team Capital One Academic All-American acclaim for the second consecutive year.
A senior from Leesburg, Florida, Nelson has a 3.63 G.P.A. majoring in homeland security. Nelson earned first-team All-Sun Conference accolades for the third time in his Embry-Riddle career, posting an 11-4 record, 1.57 ERA, four complete games, two shutouts and 104 strikeouts in 137.1 innings of work. The left-hander logged 18.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits with 14 strikeouts while leading the Eagles to their sixth and final The Sun Conference Tournament title and earning All-Tournament honors. Nelson earned the victory in Embry-Riddle’s 6-5 win over Concordia (Calif.) University in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
Other first-team Capital One Academic All-America® honorees were catcher
Connor Lynch of Oklahoma City University; infielders
Garrett Heath of Friends University,
Efrain Montero of Mount Vernon Nazarene,
Ashly Morris of the University of South Carolina Beaufort; outfielders
Tayler Hardy of University of Mobile,
Steven Karkenny of The Master’s College,
Cody Stewart of William Woods (Mo.) University and designated hitter
Nathan Forseth of Dordt College.
Also on the second team were pitcher
Alex Webb of the University of British Columbia, catcher
Tyler Alford of Cumberland University; infielders
Thomas Cunningham of Kansas Wesleyan University,
Andrew Redman of Clarke University,
Jake West from Taylor,
Ryan Wright of Oklahoma City; outfielders
Chris Anderi of Brock University,
Trent Calmer of Concordia (Ore.) University,
Liam Goodall of Embry-Riddle and designated hitter
Zach Dillman of Union (Ky.) College.
Embry-Riddle, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Oklahoma City and Taylor each placed two student-athletes on the Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball team.
The 11-member first team from the Capital One Academic All-America® College Division baseball squad has an average G.P.A. of 3.78, while the second team has an average G.P.A. of 3.64. The entire team boasts of an average G.P.A. of 3.71.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College (
mfmaceachern@yhc.edu) (706) 379-5106
Academic All-America ® Vice Co-Chair for Publicity/Communications
Jay Stancil, Union (Ky.) College (
jstancil@unionky.edu) (606) 546-1292
Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity