Goldschmidt Named Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year
FRISCO, Texas ? Texas State junior Paul Goldschmidt has been named the Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday in conjunction with the release of the All-Academic Baseball Teams.
Goldschmidt, a native of The Woodlands, Texas, carries a 3.87 grade-point average in finance. The Bobcat first baseman is the first two-time student-athlete of the year and is the first player in Southland history named player and student-athlete of the year. A six-time member of the Dean’s List, Goldschmidt was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Second-Team.
A two-time first-team all-conference selection, Goldschmidt led Texas State to its most wins as a Southland member (41), its first league regular-season title since 1997 and first NCAA tournament appearance since 2000. Goldschmidt played as big a role in the classroom as he did on the field, tutoring his fellow students in math and finance. He received league hitter of the year honors for the second consecutive season, after starting all 58 games and led the nation with 88 runs batted in and led the conference with 18 home runs, to set the Texas State season record. His 72 runs scored and 154 total bases each rank third and a .691slugging percentage ranks fourth. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected the Bobcat slugger in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Draft.
Five student-athletes make a return appearance to the all-academic team led by UTSA senior Michael Rockett, who is making his third consecutive showing on the team. Seven members received automatic selections, five of which were CoSIDA Academic All-District VI honorees. Josh Cryer of Southeastern Louisiana, who boasts the team’s only 4.00 GPA and Ryan Brauninger of McNeese State all received first-team merits, while Brycen Bell of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Jordan Nipp of Northwestern State were selected to the second-team. Brauninger and Goldschmidt went on to be named second-team Academic All-Americans.
UT Arlington led all schools with four all-academic selections. Lamar, McNeese State, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin each had three, Central Arkansas and Texas State each had two and Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTSA each had one.
Established in the 2002-03 academic year, the conference honors one student-athlete from each of the 17 championship sports who achieves excellence in academics, athletics and community/campus service. The student-athlete of the year, selected by the league’s awards committee, will have attained athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution, possess at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and demonstrated extracurricular service at his campus and or community.
The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators from each Southland university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.
Included in Capital One Bank’s support of the Southland Conference Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship, the All-Academic Teams, the Student-Athlete of the Year, the Scholar-Athlete Award and the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
2009 Southland Baseball All-Academic Teams
|
First Team |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
|
Paul Goldschmidt1254 |
Texas State |
Jr. |
The Woodlands, Texas |
3.87 |
Finance |
|
Ryan Brauninger4 |
McNeese State |
Sr. |
Nederland, Texas |
3.59 |
Communications |
|
Josh Cryer3 |
Southeastern La. |
So. |
Leesville, La. |
4.00 |
Accounting |
|
Brycen Bell3 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Fort Collins, Colo. |
3.69 |
Bio-Medical Sciences |
|
Jordan Nipp35 |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Amarillo, Texas |
3.97 |
Biology |
|
Matt Otteman2 |
UT Arlington |
Sr. |
Lockport, Ill. |
3.22 |
Exercise Science |
|
Michael Rockett26 |
UTSA |
Sr. |
Sugar Land, Texas |
3.16 |
Economics |
|
Brian Taylor |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Cedar Park, Texas |
3.34 |
General Studies |
|
Erich Lehmann5 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Fort Worth, Texas |
3.71 |
Criminal Justice |
|
Tye Throneberry |
Central Arkansas |
Jr. |
Pine Bluff, Ark. |
3.60 |
Biology |
|
Josh Huffman |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
Carrollton, Texas |
3.79 |
Health Sciences |
|
Zach Gardner5 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Sugar Land, Texas |
3.66 |
Finance |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
|
Justin O’Neal |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Ruston, La. |
3.10 |
Administration |
|
Adam Boydston |
UT Arlington |
So. |
Corinth, Texas |
3.93 |
History |
|
Jeremiah Sammy |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Markham, Ontario |
3.21 |
Communications |
|
Ricky Testa |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Mesquite, Texas |
3.07 |
General Studies |
|
Joe Urtuzuastegui |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Mesa, Ariz. |
3.00 |
General Studies |
|
Lee Orr |
McNeese State |
RS-Fr. |
Louise, Texas |
3.05 |
Athletic Training |
|
Zach Tritz |
Texas State |
Sr. |
Spring, Texas |
3.00 |
Physics |
|
Brian Ferguson |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Sugar Land, Texas |
3.37 |
Finance |
|
Ryan Mooney |
Sam Houston State |
So. |
The Woodlands, Texas |
3.35 |
Business |
|
Sam Merrill |
McNeese State |
Sr. |
Omaha, Neb. |
3.11 |
General Studies |
|
Ryan Martin |
UT Arlington |
Sr. |
Friendswood, Texas |
3.51 |
Political Science |
|
Collin Garner |
UT Arlington |
Sr. |
Arlington, Texas |
3.74 |
Mechanical Engineering |
1Student-Athlete of the Year
2First-Team All-Conference
3CoSIDA All-Academic District VI
4ESPN The Magazine All-America
5Two-time Academic Selection
6Three-time Academic Selection