The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team was one of only 64 NCAA Division I programs, and the only Ohio Valley Conference team, to receive a 2019-20 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award.
The ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award began in 2016 and EKU has earned the honor each year. Only 13 NCAA Division I baseball programs have earned the award each year.
“It is an honor to be on this short list of programs that earned this award the past five years,” Eastern Kentucky Head Coach Edwin Thompson said. “The support staff we have in the Bratzke Center, along with my coaching staff, were a big part of the team’s success in the classroom this year. The standard we have in our program is to be excellent in every aspect of our life and the players did a great job holding to this standard. I am proud of them.”
Eastern joined Louisville and Kentucky as the only three Division I teams in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to be honored.
In order to qualify for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, programs must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale during the 2019-20 academic year.
The Colonels had a 3.194 team GPA. The team’s spring GPA of 3.423 was the highest single semester GPA on record for the program.
Earlier this summer, senior outfielder Nick Howie received the highest academic/athletic honor in college athletics when he was chosen to the Academic All-America® Baseball Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Colonels finished the shortened 2020 season with a 12-2 record, including a Friday night win at No. 11 LSU.
Kevin Britton
Assistant Athletics Director for Communications & Branding
