Texas Tech University Athletics
Baseballers Named to Academic Team
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
May 7, 1998
DALLAS, Texas - Top performers on the diamond also are among the elite in the classroom as the league office announced its 50-member Baseball Academic All-Big 12 Team Thursday while heading into the second Big 12 Tournament May 14-17 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Nominated by the directors of student-athlete support services and the athletic media relations directors, members of the all-academic teams have posted at least a 3.0 grade point average either cumulative or the previous two academic semesters and are regulars on their respective teams. First-team honorees are regulars who have at least a 3.2 grade point average, while those student-athletes with grade point averages of between 3.0 and 3.19 are listed as honorable mention. Special recognition goes to three baseball players who are named to the first team with a 4.0 grade point average. Baylor senior Charley Carter, one of the 4.0 trio, leads the Big 12 in runs batted in (1.43) and doubles (21), and is among the league leaders in batting average (fifth at .407), hits (second with 88), and home runs (fourth with 20). Seniors Josh Dimmick of Kansas and Steve Hill of Oklahoma State were also nominated with 4.0 GPAs.
Nine of the Big 12's leading hitters are among those student-athletes who excel on the baseball field as well as in the classroom. Oklahoma junior Casey Bookout heads the list hitting .409, third best in the league. Other hitters include Texas A&M junior Jason Tyner, who leads the Big 12 in hits (94) and is sixth in the league with a .397 batting average.
Big 12 home run leader Ryan Fry of Missouri also is a first-team academic all-league member. The senior has a school record 24 homers this season. In fact, three of the four student-athletes who have at least 20 home runs or more this season are also on the academic squad with Bookout at 22 and Carter with 20.
Nebraska senior Matt Schuldt leads the Big 12 with a 2.87 earned run overall average and excels in his pre-education major. Also on the academic team is Baylor sophomore pitcher Jason Jennings who is third in the conference with 105.0 innings pitched in 1998 and has a 4.63 ERA. Texas A&M sophomore Chance Caple has posted a 7-0 record for the 1998 Big 12 champs and is also on the academic all-league squad. Teammate Matt Ward, 7-3 with a 4.86 ERA, is also being recognized for his academic achievements.
A total of 34 student-athletes on the 1998 Baseball Academic All-Big 12 Team will be featured at the second Big 12 Baseball Tournament, May 14-17 at the Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. Games are set for 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m. May 14-16 with the championship game at 1 p.m. on May 17 (if necessary contest would start at 7 p.m.). Texas A&M enters the event No. 1 seed having won its 12th conference baseball title, first as a member of the Big 12. Last year Oklahoma defeated regular-season champion Texas Tech 19-17 to win the first conference baseball tournament.
1998 Baseball Academic All-Big 12 Team (*Nominated with 4.00 grade point average) First Team
*Charley Carter, Baylor Sr. Finance Mt. Pleasant, Texas Jason Jennings, Baylor So. Sociology Mesquite, Texas Matthew Marcom, Baylor Sr. Marketing Irving, Texas Eric Nelson, Baylor Jr. Biology Missouri City, Texas John Topolski, Baylor Jr. Finance/Marketing Houston, Texas Preston Underdown, Baylor So. Finance Phoenix, Ariz. Brad Bjorklund, Iowa State Fr. Engineering Apple Valley, Minn. Aaron Runk, Iowa State So. Pre-Engineering Stillwater, Minn. *Josh Dimmick, Kansas Sr. Genetics Wharton, Texas Brett Kappelmann, Kansas So. Pre-Pharmacy Augusta, Kan. Pete Smart, Kansas Fr. Business Administration Omaha, Neb. Chris Williams, Kansas Jr. Sport Management Edmond, Okla. Josh Marn, Kansas State Sr. Management Manhattan, Kan. Ryan Fry, Missouri Sr. History Oak Grove, Mo. Michael Ketelsen, Missouri Sr. Marketing Parkville, Mo. Griffin Moore, Missouri Sr. Finance & Banking Parkville, Mo. Nick Wilfong, Missouri Fr. Business Wappaello, Mo. Jarod Bearinger, Nebraska Jr. Accounting Omaha, Neb. Erik Mumm, Nebraska Jr. Mechanical Engineering Kearney, Neb. Brian Rodaway, Nebraska Fr. Business Administration Lincoln, Neb. Matt Schuldt, Nebraska Sr. Pre-Education Sioux Falls, S.D. Casey Bookout, Oklahoma Jr. Management Information Systems Stroud, Okla. Grant Bergman, Oklahoma State Jr. Education Ft. Sill, Okla. Billy Gasparino, Oklahoma State Jr. Business Valrico, Fla. *Steve Hill, Oklahoma State Sr. Business Stillwater, Okla. Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State Jr. Education Stillwater, Okla. James McAuliff, Oklahoma State Fr. Undecided Oklahoma City, Okla. Rusty Puffinbarger, Oklahoma State Sr. Education Carmargo, Okla. Brett Loeffler, Texas Sr. Kinesiology Round Rock, Texas Chance Caple, Texas A&M So. Community Health Education Southlake, Texas Chris Fulbright, Texas A&M So. General Studies Libertyville, Ill. Steve Scarborough, Texas A&M So. General Studies Duncanville, Texas Jason Tyner, Texas A&M Jr. Finance Beaumont, Texas Brandon Buckley, Texas Tech Jr. Exercise and Sport Science Danville, Calif. Brad Ralston, Texas Tech Jr. Business/Finance Lubbock, Texas Monty Ward, Texas Tech Jr. Business/Finance Lubbock, TexasHonorable Mention Tom Wierzbicki, Iowa State Fr. Management Information Systems Ankeny, Iowa Mark Corson, Kansas So. Business Administration Boulder, Colo. Doug Dreher, Kansas Fr. Undecided Hays, Kan. Chad Schuster, Kansas Jr. Pre-Pharmacy Glendale, Ariz. Mark English, Kansas State So. Sociology Roeland Park, Kan. Chet Savage, Kansas State Sr. Journalism/Mass Communication Riverside, Calif. Nick Schwieder, Missouri Sr. Technician Education St. Louis, Mo. Jason Williams, Missouri Fr. Health Related Professions Fairfield, Calif. Paul McCurtain, Oklahoma Jr. Sociology Mesa, Ariz. Scott Sandusky, Texas A&M Sr. Business Administration Arvada, Colo. John Scheschuk, Texas A&M Jr. Speech Communication Pasadena, Calif. Erik Sobek, Texas A&M Jr. Agricultural Business Irvine, Calif. Matt Ward, Texas A&M Jr. Business Administration Irvine, Calif. Courtney Weller, Texas A&M So. Industrial Distribution Missoula, Mont.
