Three Named Academic All-District
DELAWARE, Ohio - Shenandoah University had three baseball student-athletes earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors in selections announced Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Junior Greg Van Sickler was named first team All-District at pitcher while senior Jake Yocum and junior Kevin Brashears earned second team accolades at pitcher and outfield, respectively.
Van Sickler, who was named as the Division III pre-season Player of the Year by Baseball America, was named as the USA South Conference Pitcher of the Year and first team All-USA South at both pitcher and utility in April.
Van Sickler, a 3.54 student as a Business Administration major, has a 7-2 record on the mound for the No. 7 in the nation Hornets and is hitting .412 with a school record 23 doubles at the plate.
Last season, he earned All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Brashears, who is hitting .449 and currently leads the nation in hits and total bases, also boasts a 3.54 GPA. Brashears is a Business Administration/Kinesiology double major and was named as the Most Valuable Player at the USA South Conference Tournament last month.
Yocum, who transferred to Shenandoah from Longwood in the fall of 2008, has a 3.67 GPA as a Criminal Justice major. He is 6-0 this season for the Hornets and was named to the USA South Conference All-Tournament team at pitcher after winning two games in the conference tournament.
Three weeks ago, Yocum was named as the SU male Senior Student-Athlete of the Year.
To be eligible for Academic All-District or All-America, student-athletes must be starters or important reserves on their team and have at least a 3.3 GPA on a 4.0 scale with nominees voted on by CoSIDA members within one of eight national districts. The first team district honorees then move on to the national ballot, from which CoSIDA Academic All-America committee members select first, second and third team Academic All-America teams.
Shenandoah is back in action beginning on May 19 at the NCAA Regional.
