IRVING, Texas - Conference USA's commitment to excellence continues to show as 13 baseball student-athletes have been named to the 2017 InTouch Credit Union C-USA Baseball All-Academic Team. Honorees are voted on by the league's sports information directors for baseball and must hold a minimum 3.2 GPA and have competed in at least 75 percent of their team's games.
2017 InTouch Credit Union C-USA Baseball All-Academic Team
Austin Langham, Florida Atlantic, Sr., 3B, Naples, Florida | 3.72 GPA in Biological Science
*Graham Ahlrich, Louisiana Tech, Jr., P, Madison, Mississippi | 3.81 GPA in Chemistry
Kent Hasler, Louisiana Tech, Jr., P, Madison, Mississippi | 3.90 GPA in Interdisciplinary Studies
Wade Martin, Marshall, So., P, Wheelersburg, Ohio | 4.00 GPA in Health Care Management
Riley Delgado, Middle Tennessee, Sr., SS, Miami, Florida | 3.82 GPA in Leisure, Sport & Tourism Studies
Austin Dennis, Middle Tennessee, So., OF/IF/P, Rockledge, Florida | 3.85 GPA in Business
Jared Young, Old Dominion, Jr., 2B, Prince George, Canada | 3.87 GPA in Sport Management
Brent Schwarz, Rice, So., P, Boerne, Texas | 4.14 GPA in Mechanical Engineering
*Kirk McCarty, Southern Miss, Jr., P, Hattiesburg, Mississippi | 4.00 GPA in Accounting
Nick Sandlin, Southern Miss, So., P, Evans, Georgia | 4.00 GPA in Construction Engineering Technology
*Brewer Hicklen, UAB, R-So., OF, Huntsville, Alabama | 3.70 GPA in Information Systems
Tyler Giovanoni, UTSA, Jr., P, Schertz, Texas | 4.00 GPA in Business
*Kaleb Duckworth, WKU, Jr., OF, Henderson, Kentucky | 3.96 GPA in Accounting
*Repeat Honoree
Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee and No. 15 Southern Miss placed two representatives on the all-academic squad, while four student-athletes were repeat selections from a year ago.
Southern Miss pitchers Kirk McCarty, a two-time honoree, and Nick Sandlin each maintain a flawless 4.0 GPA and both received the Commissioner's Academic Medal. McCarty, a junior, has been the top starter for the nationally-ranked Golden Eagles this season and was a 2016 All-Conference USA first-team selection. The accounting major earned the Posey-Munn Book Award at the 2016 College of Business Awards. Sandlin has eight wins and six saves as a reliever, while McCarty is tied for the league lead with nine wins on the season in his sophomore campaign. He is a construction engineering technology major.
Louisiana Tech also placed a pair of hurlers on the all-academic squad, including repeat honoree Graham Ahlrich. Teammate Kent Hasler and Ahlrich are both juniors and both hail from Madison, Mississippi. Ahlrich has made more appearances than any other Bulldog pitcher this season (24), tossing 36.1 innings in relief. He holds a 3.813 GPA as a chemistry major. Hasler boasts the team's highest GPA with a 3.90 in interdisciplinary studies and has thrived in the LA Tech bullpen, earning five wins and four saves.
WKU junior outfielder Kaleb Duckworth is also a repeat honoree on the C-USA All-Academic Team. With a 3.96 GPA as an accounting major, Duckworth is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District II selection and was named to the Academic All-American Team in 2016. The Henderson, Kentucky, native led the Toppers in stolen bases this season.
Outfielder Brewer Hicklen of UAB also made his second appearance on the all-academic squad with a 3.7 GPA in information systems. The redshirt sophomore from Huntsville, Alabama, holds the distinction as the only player in the nation with at least eight home runs, six triples and 18 stolen bases. He is also a dual-sport athlete and will play wide receiver for the Blazer football team in 2017.
Middle Tennessee produced two selections to the InTouch Credit Union All-Academic Baseball Team with senior Riley Delgado and sophomore Austin Dennis representing the Blue Raiders. Both have twice earned the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal. Delgado, who has started every game of his career at shortstop, maintains a 3.82 as he prepares to graduate with a degree in leisure, sport and tourism studies. He was a 2016 All-Conference USA first-team selection and 2017 CoSIDA All-District honoree. Dennis is a versatile player, logging time in the infield, outfield and on the pitchers' mound. He holds a 3.85 GPA as a business major. Both Blue Raiders hail from Florida.
Rice sophomore Brent Schwarz has made nine appearances in relief for the Owls, while maintaining an impressive 4.14 GPA in mechanical engineering. A native of Boerne, Texas, Schwarz is a two-time selection to the Rice University President's Honor Roll and the list of C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal honorees.
Pitchers Wade Martin of Marshall and Tyler Giovanoni of UTSA are each first-time honorees to the all-academic squad with perfect 4.0 GPAs. Martin led the Herd in games started (14) and strikeouts (77) in his sophomore campaign, while the Wheelersburg, Ohio, native successfully managing his course load in health care management. Giovanoni, who hails from nearby Schertz, Texas, worked his way into the Roadrunners' weekend starting rotation in his first season at UTSA. The junior business major earned C-USA Pitcher of the Week honors after his second straight complete game.
Florida Atlantic senior Austin Langham and Old Dominion junior Jared Young, a pair of talented infielders, round out the InTouch Credit Union All-Academic Baseball Team. A native of Naples, Florida, Langham was also named the FAU 2017 Student-Athlete of the Year and earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team with a 3.72 GPA as a biological science major. Young hails from Prince George, Canada, and holds a 3.78 GPA as a sport management major. Young is in his first season with the Monarchs and has twice earned C-USA Player of the Week honors as well as a national nod for Player of the Week from Collegiate Baseball.
The First, a National Banking Association, Conference USA Baseball Championship begins Wednesday, May 24, in Biloxi, Mississippi, at MGM Park. The title game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Central on Sunday, May 28. That contest will be televised live on CBS Sports Network. More information is available on ConferenceUSA.com.