Posted by Jay Stancil - Mon, Jun 12, 2006 - [Baseball] - Viewed 878 times
(BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - June 12) - As if setting a pair of school records weren't enough for Kevin Smith this season, the right-handed reliever set another milestone recently when he was named to the 2006 ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA College Division Baseball Academic All-America Team, making him the first person in Union College history to receive the recognition.
After being selected to the District IV First Team, Smith was tabbed for the Second Team on the national squad. In fact, Smith was just one of three NAIA athletes to make the squad, joining Ashland's (Iowa) Casey Jirsa and Dakota Wesleyan's (S.D.) Nick Gianou. Jirsa was on the First Team with Gianou making the Second Team.
CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Directors of America) annually names Academic All-America teams in all sports. CoSIDA was established in 1957, and the Academic All-America program dates back to 1952.
To qualify for the Academic All-America Team, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.20, be a sophomore, junior or senior and player in at least 50 percent of the team's games at the position listed. Each sport is divided into two divisions, University and College. The University Division includes all NCAA Division I schools, while the College Division encompasses all NCAA II, III and NAIA institutions.
Smith, a relief pitcher from Knoxville, Tenn., set school records for most appearances in a season (25) and most relief appearances in a season (25) while posting a 8-3 record with six saves. He owns a 3.19 earned-run average with 39 strikeouts in 48 innings of work.
The Bulldogs won their first conference championship in 12 years when they captured the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Title. Union (48-14 overall) advanced to the NAIA Region XII Tournament as the No. 1 seed, but finished the event in third place.
