Southland Conference Announces 2020 Baseball All-Academic Teams
FRISCO, Texas – Northwestern State pitcher Kyle Swanson is the 2020 Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Thursday along with the all-academic teams. Student-Athlete of the Year awards are presented by
GEICO.
The Montgomery, Texas, native graduated with a perfect 4.00 GPA in health and human performance, earning his second degree in five years in Natchitoches. A CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, Swanson will return to the Lone Star State to become part of the inaugural class of Sam Houston State’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Swanson owned a 1.04 ERA across seven appearances with four saves in 2020 prior to the season being cancelled due to COVID-19. His four saves ranked third in the conference and 17
th nationally. Swanson tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning in a win over Louisiana, the Demons’ first since 2011.
Central Arkansas led the way with five total selections, followed by Houston Baptist, Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with three each. UIW, Lamar, Nicholls, Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana each placed two on the teams, and Abilene Christian, McNeese, New Orleans and Stephen F. Austin each have one honoree.
A&M-Corpus Christi’s Itchy Burts garners his third all-academic nod, and Nicholls’ Dane Simon and Central Arkansas’ Gavin Stone picked up their second honor.
Swanson is one of four CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, along with UCA’s Christian Brasher, HBU’s Kyle Gruller and UIW’s Ridge Rogers, and he joined Brasher and HBU’s Brent Pronger as the only individuals with a 4.00 GPA.
Southland All-Academic teams are voted on by the head coach, sports information director and academic staff member from each member school. Student-athletes must possess a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA and have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution to qualify. Nominees who were CoSIDA Academic All-District selections are automatically named Southland All-Academic.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member schools, votes for the Student-Athlete of the Year. Student-Athlete of the Year candidates must have earned at least a 3.20 GPA and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
2020 Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year: Kyle Swanson, Northwestern State
2020 Southland Conference Baseball All-Academic First Team
| Name |
School |
Cl. |
GPA |
Major |
| Christian Brasher^ |
Central Arkansas |
Gr. |
4.00 |
MBA |
| Itchy Burts3 |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
3.69 |
Mechanical Engineering |
| Colton Cowser |
Sam Houston State |
So. |
3.66 |
Construction Management |
| Peyton Davis |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
3.83 |
Business Administration |
| Trent Franson |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
3.94 |
Finance |
| Kyle Gruller^ |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
3.94 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Peter Holland |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
3.91 |
Biology |
| Jared Martin |
Stephen F. Austin |
Jr. |
3.52 |
Kinesiology |
| Clayton Rasbeary |
McNeese |
Sr. |
3.60 |
Criminal Justice |
| Ridge Rogers^ |
UIW |
Jr. |
3.88 |
Rehabilitative Sciences |
| Kyle Swanson^ |
Northwestern State |
Gr. |
4.00 |
Health & Human Performance |
| Luke Taggart |
UIW |
Sr. |
3.44 |
Finance |
| Brad Verel |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
3.94 |
Exercise Science |
| Kelby Weyler |
Lamar |
Jr. |
3.90 |
Exercise Science |
2020 Southland Conference Baseball All-Academic Second Team
| Name |
School |
Cl. |
GPA |
Major |
| Trevor Beard |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
3.71 |
Communications |
| Beau Bratton |
New Orleans |
Sr. |
3.45 |
Biology |
| Colton Eager |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
3.57 |
Engineering |
| John Gaddis |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
3.69 |
Biology |
| Cole Girouard |
Lamar |
Sr. |
3.67 |
Finance |
| Beau Orlando |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
3.12 |
Health Education |
| Brent Pronger |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
4.00 |
Management |
| Nick Ray |
Southeastern Louisiana |
So. |
3.41 |
Engineering Technology |
| Jack Rogers |
Sam Houston State |
Jr. |
3.25 |
Entrepreneurship |
| Dane Simon2 |
Nicholls |
Jr. |
3.96 |
Business Administration |
| Marshall Skinner |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
3.38 |
Business Administration |
| Gavin Stone2 |
Central Arkansas |
Jr. |
3.05 |
Health Education |
| Will Warren |
Southeastern Louisiana |
Jr. |
3.29 |
Kinesiology |
| Conner Williams |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
3.00 |
Health Education |
2 Two-time all-academic selection
3 Three-time all-academic selection
^ CoSIDA Academic All-District