Baseball Earns Team Academic Award

The 2020 Seattle University baseball team was one of 76 NCAA Division I collegiate programs awarded the Team Academic Excellence Award by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). 

At the time of the announcement, the Redhawks were the only team to represent the Western Athletic Conference among those listed and were one of just four Division I programs in the Pacific Northwest. 

SU baseball posted a 3.304 cumulative grade point average during the 2019-20 academic year, which included a 3.515 GPA during the spring quarter, with the majority of the session conducted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last spring also saw the Redhawks with several names on the WAC All-Academic Awards, including seniors Nolan Jekich, Austin Lively, Blaine Wagner and Tyler Yeh. Juniors Brandon Jenkins and Will Smith were also mentioned, with nine underclassmen rounding out the selection. In addition to WAC All-Academic accolades, sophomore outfielder Kyle Sherick earned CoSIDA Academic All-District and the College of Science and Engineering’s Bannan Scholarship after logging a 3.96 GPA in mechanical engineering.

“I’m so proud of how our guys focused on their academics during a more than unusual time,” says Coach Donny Harrel. “Seattle U is a rigorous university and what they achieved speaks to their character as student-athletes.”

The ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award honors high school and collegiate programs that are coached by ABCA members and post a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale during the academic year. The annual award was first handed out following the 2015-16 academic year. This was the first time Seattle U student-athletes were recognized by ABCA.