2021 Baseball/Softball USCAA All-Academic Teams Announced; UD Places Quartet between Sports
DUBOIS, Pa. - The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) has announced the 2021 USCAA Baseball and Softball All-Academic Team.
The USCAA’s National All-Academic Award is designed to recognize all student-athletes (sophomores, juniors, and seniors at four-year institutions and sophomores at two-year institutions) who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.00 point system) or greater.
The University of Dallas placed a trio of Crusaders from baseball and one from softball on the team. Two were in their fifth season with the Crusaders due to an extra year of eligibility with the shortened COVID-19 season in 2020 and the pair were multiple year recipients.
Nicolas Hovde (Waco, Texas) and Emily Martin (San Jose, Calif.) highlighted the group with the above distinction. Joseph Vondrachek (North St. Paul, Minn.) and Tommy Hall (Shawnee, Kan.) earned their first awards with the organization.
Hovde has been placed on the USCAA Baseball National All-Academic Team every year eligible, and in this case a rare four years due to COVID-19. Hovde appeared in 18 games and made 13 starts as an outfielder in 2021. He tallied four hits, scored five runs and drove in two. He walked eight times which was the third most total number by a UD player.
Vondrachek was the sparkplug at the top of the UD lineup this spring, making all 30 starts. He batted .322 and was tops on the team in hits (38), runs (34), home runs (2), RBI (19), and stolen bases (29). His stolen base total paced the USCAA and was at one point tied for second in NCAA Division III and entered this week tied for sixth. Four players ranked higher have played at least five more games, and the other has played a game fewer. He continued to build on his classroom resume, sporting three years on the SCAC Spring Student-Athlete Academic Honor Roll before boasting his GPA to eclipse the 3.5 threshold.
Tommy Hall is in his second season with the Crusaders. The catcher was on the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) 2020 Spring Academic Honor Roll.
The UD baseball program has had at least one member of the USCAA National All-Academic Team every season except one since 2010. That year was in 2015, marking this as the sixth straight to have someone named. It is the third time in that span to have at least three Crusaders make it.
Martin was the lone member from the softball team to qualify and marks her second straight year to be on the USCAA National All-Academic Team. She was on the SCAC Spring All-Academic Honor Roll all four years of undergrad. This spring she split time playing second base and pitching. Primarily a pitcher in her career, the graduate student logged 43 innings (2nd most on UD) and collected one of the team’s four wins. She appeared in 11 games in the circle, which was second most on the team, and started in four of them. She struck out 19 batters. As a hitter, she played in 24 games, while starting all of them. In 36 at bats, the left-handed hitter recorded seven hits and hits, and scored five runs. She led the team with 35 assists.