Riley Schaefer among finalists for SCAC Man of the Year

Riley Schaefer among finalists for SCAC Man of the Year


SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran's Riley Schaefer, an Academic All-American and baseball All-American for the Bulldogs, is a finalist for the 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Man of the Year award.

The award recognizes the conference's senior male student-athlete who has best distinguished himself throughout his collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence and service and leadership.

Member schools were permitted to submit two nominations if at least one of the nominees was a man of color or international student-athlete.

This year's finalist include: Joseph Khalaf of Austin College, Henry Baldwin of Colorado College, Schaefer of TLU, and Blair Walker of Trinity University.

To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in his primary sport by the end of the 2019 spring season, received his undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2019 term, and had a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale).

The 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Man of the Year will be selected and announced later this month.

Schaefer graduated this May with his master's and bachelor's degrees in accountancy. He finished his degrees with an overall grade point average of 3.98. He completed his four years of baseball eligibility in 2018, but he was not eligible for SCAC Man of the Year until he finished his undergraduate and master's degrees (completed concurrently) this May.

Schaefer was the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Elite 90 award winner in 2018. He received the honor as the top student-athlete at the national championship finals, also known as the NCAA DIII World Series, in Appleton, Wis.

The Bulldogs' starting center fielder, Schaefer led TLU to its first-ever NCAA DIII World Series appearance. The Bulldogs finished as the national runner-up and won the Spokane, Wash. Regional Championship and the SCAC Championship.

Schaefer was the SCAC Player of the Year, the D3baseball.com West Region Player of the Year, the TLU Male Student-Athlete of the Year, and the TLU Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Schaefer's other accomplishments and honors include:
 
  • Google Cloud Academic All-American (2018 – First Team, 2017 – Third Team)
  • Google Cloud Academic First-Team All-District (2017-18)
  • Four-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll honoree (2015-18)
  • Graduated Summa Cum Laude in both degrees
  • SCAC and TLU single-season hits leader with 95 (2018)
  • NCAA Hits Leader (2018)
  • D3baseball.com First Team All-American (2018)
  • American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Second Team All-American (2018)
  • Two-Time First-Team All-SCAC (2017-18)
  • HOT DAWGS Service Days (2015-18)
  • Elementary School Reading Day Volunteer (2015-2018)
  • Eden Cross Nursing Home Volunteer (2017-18)
  • Baseball Leadership Council (2017-18)
  • TLU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (2015-18)
  • Black & Gold President's Council (2016-18)
  • Alpha Lambda Delta Member (2016-18)

Full SCAC Release
Past Winners