The Valparaiso University athletic department continues to haul in academic honors for its collective success in the classroom throughout the 2019-2020 academic year.
This time, it’s the Valpo baseball program in the limelight as head coach Brian Schmack’s squad was honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association as a Team Academic Excellence Award Recipient.
Programs coached by ABCA members that posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale were recognized. Valpo posted a 3.22 team GPA this year, joining Indiana State and Bradley as Missouri Valley Conference members to receive the academic recognition.
This year, Valpo boasted a pair of repeat MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team selections – Steven Fitzsimmons (Golden Valley, Minn. / Robbinsdale Cooper) and Jon Tieman (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Prairie Ridge), while Easton Rhodehouse (Gilbert, Ariz. / Highland) earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention. In addition, Christian Barczi (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville North) was named a Third Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA.