TLU Baseball picks up second straight ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award

TLU Baseball picks up second straight ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award

SEGUIN, Texas -- For the second consecutive year, the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs have claimed an American Baseball Coaches Association Team Academic Excellence Award.

 

The Bulldogs and fellow Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference member Austin College are among the nearly 300 member college and high school programs from across the country that have been awarded the Team Academic Excellence Award for 2018-19.

 

The ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award is given to each team that posts a team GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the entire 2018-19 academic year.

 

In addition to registering a team GPA over 3.0, the Bulldogs won the SCAC Regular-Season Co-Championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship (regional round). TLU hosted a 2019 NCAA DIII Regional Championship at its home stadium, Katt-Isbel Field.

 

The Bulldogs finished 31-14 overall and went 14-4 in the SCAC.

This year, 296 college and high school programs received this year's award. Among the award winners are NCAA Division III national champion Chapman University (Calif.) and NJCAA Division II champs Northern Oklahoma College-Enid.

 

In total, 95 high school teams along with 201 programs from the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, and junior college levels were recognized.

"We are proud to once again honor the academic achievements of so many of our member programs," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "The off-the-field success of this year's award winners is a testament to the hard work of the student-athletes and the commitment of coaches and academic personnel to developing well-rounded individuals."

 

Coaches were able to nominate their teams for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award following the conclusion of their spring semesters prior to 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.

 

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.