Five CAA Baseball Players Named Academic All-Americans
Five CAA baseball players were chosen to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America® Division I baseball first team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Hofstra senior pitcher Joe Burg and Towson graduate student third baseman Zach Fisher were honored as first-team Academic All-Americans, while Georgia State senior catcher Scott Sarratt, UNCW senior second baseman Michael Bass and UNCW junior third baseman Ryan LaGrange were named to the second team.
Burg is the first Pride baseball player, and just the ninth Hofstra student-athlete overall, to earn first team Academic All-America accolades. Enrolled in Hofstra's Honors College, Burg posted a 4.0 grade point average as a physics and mathematics major. Earlier this academic year he was a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship, becoming just the second Hofstra student to earn that distinction. He was also a finalist for the NCAA's Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship and was the recipient of Hofstra's James M. Shuart Award as the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
At commencement earlier this month, Burg, a summa cum laude graduate, was the recipient of Hofstra's Outstanding Senior Scholar Award in recognition of his grade point average, the Outstanding Graduating Mathematics Senior Award and departmental high honors in physics and math based on his theses in both subjects. He was also a Hofstra Honors College Graduate with Distinction.
Burg, a native of Lindenhurst, IL, finished the 2013 season with a 3-4 record and a 5.49 ERA. He struck out 37 and walked 26 in 62 1/3 innings pitched, and tied for the team lead in wins.
Fisher is the first Tiger baseball to be named as a Capital One Academic All-America® first team honoree.A transfer from the University of Maryland, Fisher graduated in only three years, earning his B.A. degree last May. He graduated from Towson with a degree in economics and a 3.94 G.P.A. He is currently working on his M.B.A. and has a 4.00 G.P.A. in graduate school.
A two-year starter at third base, he has led the Tigers to their first-ever CAA championship and a berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament. Last week, he was named as the Most Outstanding Player at the CAA Tournament. He helped the Tigers win four straight games in the CAA Tournament by batting .476. He scored five runs with one double, three home runs and 10 runs batted in.
A second team All-CAA selection, Fisher enters the NCAA Tournament as Towson’s fourth-leading hitter with a .322 batting average. He is second on the team with 46 runs scored and 74 base hits. Fisher also has 11 doubles, three home runs and 40 runs batted in as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter.
Sarratt became GSU’s 12th Academic All-American and first ever in baseball. A senior from Statesboro, Ga., Sarratt maintains a 3.54 grade point average in chemistry.
Sarratt was batting .326 with one homer, nine doubles and 20 runs batted in through 31 games when he suffered a season-ending injury with a broken bone in his hand. He was tabbed to the preseason watch list for the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top catcher, and on March 5, he was named CAA Player of the Week after leading the Panthers to three victories in four games against Georgia and Boston College.
In two seasons with the Panthers, Sarratt posted a career batting average of .309 and played outstanding defense, throwing out 34 of 92 runners attempting to steal and fielding at a .983 clip.
Bass and LaGrange became the first Seahawks to be named Academic All-Americans since 1987.
Bass, who has fashioned a cumulative 3.47 grade point average and is majoring in business with a concentration in accounting, enters the regional with a team-leading .387 batting average while also posting team-highs in runs (59), hits (79), doubles (20) and stolen bases (24). He tied the UNCW school record with a 26-game hitting streak and at one point in the season held the nation’s longest on base streak at 42 games, dating back to the 2012 season. Bass was named to the Louisville Slugger All-America third team earlier this week.
LaGrange, meanwhile, has a 3.89 GPA while majoring in Chemistry and minoring in biology. As a junior, LaGrange is hitting a career-high .372 with 13 doubles, a triple and five home runs. He’s tied for third on the club with 37 runs batted in. The Wilmington native is a semifinalist for the Gregg Olsen award which is presented to the breakout player of the year in college baseball.