HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana baseball squad has earned the 2019 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, making it one of just 48 programs at the NCAA Division I level to earn the distinction this past school year from the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Led by Google Cloud Academic All-American
Corey Gaconi, Google Cloud Academic All-District honoree
Kyle Schimpf, as well as Southland Conference All-Academic members
Jared Biddy,
Mason Knopp and
Bryce Tassin, the Lions compiled a 3.14 cumulative team GPA this past academic year.
Teams from every level of college and high school baseball were recognized with this year's award, which highlights programs coached by ABCA members that posted a GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the entire 2018-19 academic year.
Coaches were able to nominate their teams for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award following the conclusion of their spring semesters before the nomination deadline of July 19. To be honored, teams had to meet the following criteria:
- Must be a high school or college team.
- Head coach must be a current ABCA member.
- Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2018-19 academic year.
On the heels of a program-record GPA during the 2017-18 academic year, Southeastern has earned the award in back-to-back seasons.
The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/Diamond Regional & National Coaches of the Year and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award.
DIAMOND CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the baseball program are encouraged to join the Diamond Club. Lion baseball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Diamond Club and S Club (baseball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern baseball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lions Baseball, follow @LionUpBaseball or @MattRiser17 on Twitter, @LionUpBaseball on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
ABCA ACADEMIC AWARD WINNERS – NCAA DIVISION I
Alabama State
Ball State
Baylor
Bradley
Butler
Campbell
Central Michigan
Chicago State
Cincinnati
Coppin State
Davidson
Duke
East Carolina
Eastern Kentucky
Fordham
Gardner-Webb
Hartford
Hofstra
Holy Cross
Kansas
Kentucky
Lafayette
Little Rock
LIU Brooklyn
Louisville
Memphis
Mercer
Michigan State
Missouri
Oral Roberts
Oregon State
Penn
Portland
Samford
Santa Clara
Southeastern Louisiana
St. John's
The Citadel
Tulane
UAB
UNC Greensboro
UNLV
Utah Valley
Valparaiso
Western Michigan
Wichita State
William & Mary
Yale
