Four Horizon League Baseball Players Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team

The Horizon League had four of its baseball players named to the 2012 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 5 Team, which recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

Butler’s Chase Byerly and Griffin Richeson were joined on the 11-man District 5 team by Youngstown State’s Drew Dosch and Wright State’s Jake Hibberd.

Byerly and Richeson are both Finance majors who maintain 3.98 GPAs. Byerly has made 24 appearances for the Bulldogs this season and has a 2-3 record along with a team-leading nine saves. Richeson ranks third on the Bulldogs with a batting average of .301 for the season. The senior ranks second on the team with a .440 on-base percentage and has scored 32 runs on the season.

Dosch is a Social Studies Education major and has a 4.00 GPA. The sophomore ranks second on the team (and third in the conference) with a .361 batting average and has hit a team-high seven home runs this season and driven in 32 runs so far in 2012, second-most on the team.

Hibberd is a Mass communciation major and has a 3.58 GPA. The 2011 Horizon League Player of the Year is one of the top hitters in the Horizon League in 2012. The senior ranks fifth in the conference with a .347 batting average, second in the League in home runs (8) and third in RBIs (42) for the Raiders who are 32-16 (17-7 HL) this year and receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll.

The Academic All-America program honors male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, a 2,000 member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached at least sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.