2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Baseball Teams release dates:
College Division Teams: LINK
NCAA Division III Teams: below
NCAA Division II Teams: Thr., June 2
NCAA Division I Teams: Fri., June 3
• Academic All-America® website
• Academic All-America® Baseball Team - Division III
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – Junior first baseman Conner Combs of East Texas Baptist University headlines the 2016 Academic All-America® Division III Baseball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
A business major with a 3.94 G.P.A., Combs was selected as the winner of the CoSIDA Division III Academic All-American® of the Year award for baseball. A junior in his athletic eligibility, Combs recently earned his bachelor’s degree from East Texas Baptist and will begin pursuing a master’s degree this fall.
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2015-16 Division III Academic All-America® teams program.
There are 22 individuals among the 33 honorees on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® baseball team that have a 3.90 or better grade-point average, with four earning a perfect 4.00 G.P.A.in the classroom. The 11 members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III baseball first team maintain an average G.P.A of 3.88.
A junior from Southlake, Texas, Combs was named the American Southwest Conference’s (ASC) Player of the Year earlier this month, in addition to All-ASC first team honors. He recently earned D3baseball.com All-America third team honors to become the Tigers’ first-ever D3baseball.com All-American selection. He also picked up American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings First Team All-Region honors recently.
A first baseman for the Tigers, Combs led the ASC in home runs this year with 15 and was the league leader in slugging percentage (.734). He ranked second in the league in RBI with 52 and also was second in total bases with 116. He ranked fifth in stolen bases (20), sixth in batting average (.399) and ninth in hits (63).
Last week, Combs was honored as ETBU’s recipient of the ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor award. Each year the ASC Faculty Athletics Representatives presents the award to one male and one female from each member school that has compiled the most outstanding record in academics, athletics and leadership over their collegiate career
This year’s CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III baseball team features eight individuals who have earned multiple CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors in their careers. This year’s CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III baseball first team features four individuals who have previously been named to the Academic All-America® team. There are three repeat honorees on the second team and one return selection on the third team unit.
Senior pitcher Cory Vogeli of Misericordia is on the first team unit for the second-consecutive year. Vogeli is a mathematics major from Coram, New York, with a 3.98 G.P.A. He is a two-time MAC All-Freedom Conference selection, including recognition as the 2015 Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Year. He compiled a 7-1 record in 11 starts this year. He recorded a team-high 64 strikeouts, helping the Cougars to a NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional appearance.
First team selection Logan Hershey of Saint John’s (Minn.) is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America® honoree. He was a second team selection in 2015. The senior from Maple Grove, Minnesota, is an accounting major with a 3.91 G.P.A. A two-time first team All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) selection at shortstop, Hershey is also a two-time all-region selection in the infield. Hershey helped guide the Johnnies to a second-place finish at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional this season with a .372 (70-for-188) batting average, 36 RBI and 37 runs scored.
Senior Zach Keeler of Frostburg State is on the first team this year at catcher following a second team selection at designated hitter in 2015. Keeler is an economics and business administration double-major from Waldorf, Maryland, with a 4.00 G.P.A. He drove in 27 runs this year and scored 20 times in helping lead the Bobcats to an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Messiah’s Joseph Saufley earned first team CoSIDA Academic All-America® recognition this year, paired with second team honors in 2015. The communications major from Hershey, Pennsylvania, owns a 3.92 G.P.A. at Messiah, earning second team MAC All-Commonwealth Conference recognition at first base. Saufley led the Falcons with a team-high .351 (54-for-154) batting average, 40 RBI and 39 runs scored in 2016. He hit nine home runs this year with a .610 slugging percentage.
Second team honoree
Kyle Mellinger of Wheaton (Ill.) picked up his third career CoSIDA Academic All-America® honor. Mellinger was also a second team selection in 2015 and earned third team recognition in 2014. An applied health science major from Ladera Ranch, California, he has a 3.96 G.P.A. A 2015 ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region selection, Mellinger is second in Wheaton history in career doubles (43) and is ranked in the top-10 in 11 different categories in the program’s career record books.
Senior outfielder Will Cates of Southwestern (Texas) is on the second team this year, following third team recognition in 2015. Cates is a biochemistry major from Houston, Texas, with a 3.78 G.P.A. An All-West Region selection earlier this month for both the D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings teams, he hit for.388 (66-for-170) batting average this year with 26 extra-base hits, including eight home runs.
Senior Derek Hug of Heidelberg is on the second team this year following a third team selection in 2015. Hug is a biology (pre-med) major from Bryan, Ohio, with a 3.61 G.P.A. A three-time All-Region honoree, Hug picked up third team ABCA/Rawlings recognition this season. He led Heidelberg with 40 RBI this year and is tied for the school’s career triples record with 16 in his four seasons.
Junior Ben Buerkle of Saint Mary’s (Minn.) earned third team CoSIDA Academic All-America® recognition for the second-consecutive year. The business management and finance double-major from Roseville, Minnesota, has a 3.70 G.P.A. Earlier this month, Buerkle earned All-Midwest Region honors at third base from both ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com. He hit .386 (59-for-153) this season with 45 runs scored and 43 RBI; ranking second on the Cardinals’ squad in all three categories.
Other members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® baseball first team include
pitcher Kyle Monk of Emory; infielder Dynas Doud of East Texas Baptist; outfielders Connor Bowie from Mount Aloysius, Tyler Kent of Otterbein, Walker Olis of Pacific (Ore.); and
designated hitter Tim Carlson from Concordia-Moorhead.
Second team catcher Taylor Empkey of LeTourneau and
second team infielder John Drago of MIT each hold a 4.0 G.P.A. They are joined on the second team by
pitchers Jake Enterlin of Johns Hopkins and Connor Tagg of Case Western Reserve; infielders Justin Dages of Ohio Wesleyan and Ian Helsel of Mount Aloysius; outfielder Michael Schimpf of Centenary (La.); and
designated hitter Devon DeRaad of Occidental.
Hendrix pitcher Daniel Imbro, a third team honoree, holds a 4.00 G.P.A. Joining Imbro on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III baseball third team is
pitcher David Hesslink of MIT; catcher Eric White of Marietta; infielders Logan Bastin of Capital, Brady Fuller of Occidental and Eric Lawson from Linfield; outfielders Bob Barnett of Widener, Ian Eberly from Stevenson and Luke Lawrence of Gettysburg; and
designated hitter Connor Tom from Gettysburg.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Schwartz, North Dakota State University (
Jeff.Schwartz@ndsu.edu) (701) 231-8332
Academic All-America ® Co-Vice-Chair for Publicity/Communications
Brett Marhanka, Wheaton College (
Brett.Marhanka@wheaton.edu) (630) 752-5747
Academic All-America ® Coordinator of Publicity