ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® TEAM S ELECTED BY C O SIDA

FOR RELEASE: Friday, June 3 – 12 noon (ET)

COLE GRUBER OF UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA OMAHA HEADLINES CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® DIVISION I BASEBALL TEAM

AUSTIN, Texas – Senior Cole Gruber of the University of Nebraska Omaha headlines the 2016 Academic All-America® Division I baseball team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Gruber has been selected as the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-American® of the Year for Division I baseball. An accounting major with a 3.97 G.P.A., Gruber was a 2015 Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-American® selection.

A native of Papillon, Neb., Gruber started all 56 games and is batting .376 with 13 doubles, two triples, one home , 55 runs scored, 30 RBI, 32 walks and 43 stolen bases. He ranks second nationally in stolen bases, third for stolen bases per game (0.80) and 38th for hits (80) and paced the Summit League in hits, runs and swiped bags. Gruber had a team-high 25 multi- performances and five multi-RBI games, and he was honored as Summit League Player of the Week on March 28. In addition, Gruber holds the all-time league record for sacrifice bunts (35) and is second for career stolen bases (105).

More than a dozen (13) of the 34 members of the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I baseball teams have at least a 3.90 G.P.A., with three student-athletes sporting a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. The 11 members of the Academic All-America® NCAA Division I baseball first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.87.

In addition to being this year’s CoSIDA Academic All-American® of the Year, Gruber is among a group of five student-athletes who are multi-time Academic All-America® choices, four on the first team. Campbell University senior Matt Parrish was a second team Academic All-America® at designated hitter in 2015 and the third team DH in 2014. Georgia State senior catcher Joey Roach, was a second team Academic All-America® selection in 2015, while Ball State University junior outfielder Alex Call and University of Nebraska junior outfielder Ryan Boldt were third team Academic All-America® picks last year.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I baseball first team includes five student-athletes with at least a 3.90 G.P.A., including one with a perfect 4.0. Led by Gruber, Call and Roach, the first team includes University of Louisiana sophomore pitcher Dylan Moore, who carries a 4.0 G.P.A. and is a double major in political science and pre-law.

St. John’s University senior Thomas Hackimer joined Moore as one of two pitchers on the Academic All-America® first team.

The infield includes Campbell’s Parrish, University of Hartford junior David MacKinnon, Ball State University junior Caleb Stayton and Omaha senior Clayton Taylor.

In addition to Call and Gruber, the outfield includes Valparaiso senior Nolan Lodden, and the team designated hitter is North Carolina Central senior James Dey.

Gruber Leads CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Baseball Team – Page 2

CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Baseball Team

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I baseball second team includes three student-athletes with a G.P.A. of 3.90 or higher, including Morehead State senior pitcher Matt Anderson, North Carolina State junior catcher and Gardner-Webb senior infielder Patrick Graham.

Kent State junior pitcher Eric Lauer is the other pitcher on the Academic All-America® second team. In addition, to Graham, the Academic All-America® second team includes Stanford junior Tommy Edman, Southeastern Louisiana junior Jameson Fisher, and Louisville junior Nick Solak.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® second team outfield is comprised of Yale senior Nate Adams, Michigan senior Cody Bruder and U.S. Naval Academy senior Sean Trent, while the team’s designated hitter is Minnesota junior Matt Fielder.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I baseball third team includes two student-athletes with a G.P.A. of 4.0 or higher, led by Georgia State junior infielder Justin Jones and New Mexico graduate student pitcher Alex Estrella.

Along with Estrella, the Academic All-America® third team’s other pitcher is Kentucky senior Dustin Beggs, while the battery mate is New Mexico junior Chris DeVito.

In addition to Jones, the infield includes Southeast Missouri State sophomore Trevor Ezell, VMI senior David Geary, Gonzaga senior Taylor Jones and U.S. Air Force Academy junior Russell Williams.

The Academic All-America® third team outfield includes Nebraska’s Boldt, Western Kentucky sophomore Kaleb Duckworth and Milwaukee senior Luke Meeteer, while the designated hitter is U.S. Naval Academy sophomore Stephen Born.

The field for the 2016 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which begins this weekend at various campus sites, includes 12 student-athletes, representing 10 schools, who are members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Baseball Teams – Alex Estrella and Chris DeVito (New Mexico); Sean Trent and Stephen Born (U.S. Naval Academy); Andrew Knizner (North Carolina State), Jameson Fisher (Southeastern Louisiana), Nick Solak (Louisville), Dylan Moore (Louisiana) Matt Fielder (Minnesota), Trevor Ezell (Southeast Missouri State); Taylor Jones (Gonzaga); and Ryan Boldt (Nebraska).

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Schwartz, North Dakota State University ([email protected]) (701) 231-8332 Academic All-America® Committee - Vice Co-Chair for Publicity/Communications

Mex Carey, Georgetown University ([email protected]) (202) 687-2475 Academic All-America® Committee - Coordinator of Publicity

2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America ® Division I Baseball Team

NCAA DIVISION I

FIRST TEAM Pos. Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major P Thomas Hackimer St. John’s (N.Y.) Sr. Floral Park, N.Y. 3.62 Physics P Dylan Moore Louisiana So. Hughes Springs, Texas 4.00 Political science / pre-law C Joey Roach (2) Georgia State Sr. Holly Springs, N.C. 3.89 Actuarial science IF David MacKinnon Hartford Jr. Easton, Mass. 3.94 Accounting IF Matt Parrish (2, #) Campbell Sr. McGee's Crossroads, N.C. 3.77 Mathematics IF Caleb Stayton Ball State Jr. Goshen, Ind. 3.92 Telecommunications IF Clayton Taylor Omaha Sr. Omaha, Neb. 3.82 IT innovation OF Alex Call (3) Ball State Jr. River Falls, Wis. 3.86 Entrepreneurial management OF Cole Gruber (2) Omaha Sr. Papillion, Neb. 3.97 Accounting OF Nolan Lodden Valparaiso Sr. West Des Moines, Iowa 3.94 Electrical engineering DH James Dey North Carolina Central Sr. Charlotte, N.C. 3.84 History

SECOND TEAM Pos. Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major P Matt Anderson Morehead State Sr. McDonough, Ga. 3.91 Construction mgt. & civil eng. tech. P Eric Lauer Kent State Jr. Elyria, Ohio 3.79 Business management C Andrew Knizner North Carolina State Jr. Glen Allen, Va. 3.98 Industrial engineering IF Tommy Edman Stanford Jr. San Diego, Calif. 3.84 Computer science IF Jameson Fisher Southeastern Louisiana Jr. Zachary, La. 3.37 Kinesiology IF Patrick Graham Gardner-Webb Sr. Raleigh, N.C. 3.91 Economics IF Nick Solak Louisville Jr. Woodridge, Ill. 3.69 Finance OF Nate Adams Yale Sr. St. Louis, Mo. 3.71 Molecular, cellular & develop. biology OF Cody Bruder Michigan Sr. Corona, Calif. 3.61 Evolutionary anthropology OF Sean Trent U.S. Naval Academy Sr. Sorrento, Fla. 3.44 Ocean engineering DH Matt Fiedler Minnesota Jr. Eagan, Minn. 3.30 Kinesiology

THIRD TEAM Pos. Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major P Dustin Beggs Kentucky Sr. Roswell, Ga. 3.69 Integrated strategic communications P Alex Estrella New Mexico Gr. Las Vegas, Nev. 4.00 Business administration C Chris DeVito New Mexico Jr. Northridge, Calif. 3.52 Criminology IF Trevor Ezell Southeast Missouri State So. Alexander, A rk. 3.92 Business administration IF David Geary VMI Sr. Richmond, Va. 3.70 Applied math IF Justin Jones Georgia State So. Warner Robins, Ga. 4.04 Exercise science IF Taylor Jones Gonzaga Sr. Kent, Wash. 3.50 Applied communications IF Russell Williams U.S. Air Force Academy Jr. McKinney, Texas 3.82 Economics OF Ryan Boldt (3) Nebraska Jr. Red Wing, Minn. 3.70 Nutrition science OF Kaleb Duckworth WKU So. Henderson, Ky. 3.94 Accounting OF Luke Meeteer Milwaukee Sr. Middleton, Wis. 3.60 Kinesiology DH Stephen Born U.S. Naval Academy So. Strafford, Pa. 3.74 Operations research

CoSIDA Academic All-American® of the Year: Cole Gruber, Nebraska Omaha

(1) = 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team (2) = 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America® second team (3) = 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America® third team (#) = 2014 CoSIDA Academic All-America® third team