NOTRE DAME, Ind. --- Tusculum College first
baseman Dustin Morrow has been named to the 2008
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® College
Division Baseball First Team, as selected by the College Sports
Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Morrow becomes the second player in the program's history to earn
Academic All-America® recognition, but the first to garner
First Team honors. He is also the eighth Tusculum student-athlete
since 2000 to be named an Academic All-American®, but only the
second to be a First Teamer. Women's soccer standout Denise
Fliesser earned Academic All-America® First Team accolades
twice in 2004 and 2005.
Morrow, a native of Lexington, Ky., graduated from Tusculum
earlier this month with a cumulative grade point average of 3.94 in
Secondary Math Education. He posted a .373 batting average in a
season that was halted midway due to an injury suffered against
Carson-Newman in March. The two-time All-South Atlantic Conference
selection posted seven doubles, four home runs and 22 RBI. For his
efforts, he was named to the American Baseball Coaches
Association's Division II All-South Region Second Team.
He wrapped up his Tusculum career with 662 career put outs, which
are the fourth most in school history, while his .985 career
fielding percentage is ranked in the top 10 in the TC record
book.
The two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection was named the
2008 SAC Scholar Athlete for Baseball, becoming the fifth Pioneer
in the last eight years to earn this prestigious honor.
The Pioneers posted a 41-15 record in 2008 and are currently
ranked 30th in the nation. Tusculum advanced to the NCAA Tournament
for a second straight year and the fourth time in the last six
seasons. The Pioneers earned their way into the national postseason
by winning the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key
reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 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. Since the program's inception
in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America® honors on
more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA
covering all NCAA championship sports.
- TC -
2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-America® Baseball Team
College Division
First Team
P - Christopher Mock, Greensboro
P - Tyler Whitaker, Rogers State
C - Jason Sherrer, Mount Olive
IF - Bryan Cook, Nova Southeastern
IF - Dustin Walls, Incarnate Word
IF - Jared Thoele, Illinois College
IF - Dustin Morrow, Tusculum
OF - Gabe MacDougall, Lynn
OF - Andrew Frezza, Barry
OF - Rob Pietroforte, Johns Hopkins
DH - Robby Finnell, Univ. of the Ozarks
Second Team
P - Jason Decker, Mt. Vernon Nazarene
P - Ryan Kealy, Johns Hopkins
P - James Clear, Denison
C - Ryan Tryt, Rochester Inst. Tech.
IF - Brandon Mauck, Otterbein
IF - Cory Clark, Nova Southeastern
IF - Brent Voorhees, McMurry
IF - William Kropp, New Jersey
OF - Brian Majors, Emporia State
OF - David Nypaver, Thiel
OF - Shane Wolf, Ithaca
DH - Dan Kozloski, Regis
Third Team
P - Michael Matsui, Rose-Hulman
C - Tony Petulla, Penn State-Altoona
IF - Daniel Poindexter, Greensboro
IF - Jonas Fester, Johns Hopkins
IF - Justin Champagne, Scranton
