HL Places Three on 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Baseball Team

The Horizon League had three of its players – Wright State’s Jake Hibberd, Youngstown State’s Drew Dosch and Butler’s Chase Byerly – earn recognition as members of the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Baseball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The Horizon League’s three players on the team tied with the ACC and Big South for the most selections from any conference.

Hibberd, a First-Team Academic All-America selection, is a senior majoring in mass communication with a 3.588 grade point average.  The Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Month for March, he was a Second Team Academic All-American in 2011 and was selected Academic All-Horizon League as a sophomore and junior.

On the field, Hibberd earned First Team All-Horizon League honors for the third straight year and was the only Raider to appear and start in every game.  He currently leads the league with 84 hits and 131 total bases, is second with nine home runs, tied for second in doubles with 18 and ranks third in runs scored (50) and RBI (47), fifth in slugging percentage (.524), sixth in batting average (.336) and 10th in on-base percentage (.406).

Hibberd is the first Raider athlete to be selected as a First Team Academic All-American since Andy Matko was named as the Academic All-American of the Year for baseball in 1997.

Dosch, a Second-Team Academic All-America selection, was named First-Team All-Horizon League this past season while maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average in social studies education. At the end of the Horizon League Tournament, Dosch ranked third in the Horizon League in batting average (.353), fourth in slugging percentage (.527) and ninth in on-base percentage (.408). The Canal Winchester, Ohio, native also ranked third in home runs (8), fourth in hits (79) and eighth in RBIs (42).

Dosch becomes just the second YSU baseball player to ever earn Academic All-America honors. He joins Brandon Caipen, a second-team honoree in 2006. Dosch was one of just two sophomore baseball players in the country to earn Academic All-America honors.

Byerly, a Third-Team Academic All-America selection, set a Butler single-season record with 10 saves in 2012. The team's closer the past two years, the right-hander finished with a 3.57 ERA in 26 appearances. He ranked second in the Horizon League in saves and games finished (23). Byerly totaled 32 strikeouts against just five walks in 45.1 innings this past season.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.