Henderson and Schieber Named All-Academic
May 18, 2009 | Baseball
May 18, 2009
IRVING, Texas - One graduate student, seven seniors, one junior and two sophomores make up the 2009 Conference USA All-Academic Baseball Team, as selected by the baseball sports information directors. All nine teams were represented with East Carolina and UAB placing two members apiece on the team. There were three repeat selections from last season's squad and one from the 2007 squad. The all-academic team for baseball consists of student-athletes who have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and are a starter or key reserve for their team.
East Carolina seniors Brandon Henderson and Drew Schieber garnered academic recognition after leading their team to the 2009 C-USA Baseball regular season title. Henderson holds a 3.31 GPA in construction management, while playing in 44 games for the Pirates. He is one of four team captains on the ECU squad and is the recipient of the Pat Draughton Postgraduate Scholarship Award. Schieber is a two-time PCS Phosphate All-Academic Team honoree and has a 3.63 GPA in exercise physiology. The third-baseman owns a .945 fielding percentage and has a .498 slugging percentage.
Repeat selection Jimmy Comerota of Rice makes his second consecutive appearance on the All-Academic Team as an economics and sport management major with a 3.26 GPA. The senior infielder has played in all 50 of the Owls games this season and leads the team in sacrifice bunts (7). Comerota was a 2008 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI Second Team honoree and is a three-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member.
Third-seeded Houston placed sophomore shortstop Blake Kelso on the All-Academic team. Kelso is one of three players to start all 66 games this season and 19 stolen bases. The Pflugerville, Texas native holds a 3.42 GPA as an economics major.
Tulane senior pitcher Jonathan Garrett earns his first All-Academic team honor as a bio-medical engineering major. The Mandeville, La., native tossed a career-high 13 strikeouts against Southern Miss on May 1, 2009 and owns a 5-3 record this Spring. A 2009 captain for the Green Wave, Garrett is also a four-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member with a 3.35 GPA.
Senior outfielder James Ewing of Southern Miss makes his second consecutive appearance to the All-Academic Team. The Beaumont, Texas, native was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List this season and has recorded 137 total putouts and assists for the Golden Eagles. Ewing is a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection as a philosophy major with a 3.73 GPA.
Sixth-seeded UAB placed sophomore Nick Crawford and senior James Oliver on the 2009 All-Academic squad. Crawford is a finance major and owns a 3.46 GPA. The infielder is a 2008 C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal recipient and has recorded 11 doubles on the season while also capturing 15 stolen bases for the Blazers. Crawford has committed only three errors at second base for a .988 fielding percentage.
Oliver is a repeat selection and has received UAB Presidential Honors in each semester at the school. Currently, the senior pitcher is a biology major with a 3.84 GPA and has been accepted to medical school at UAB. The Vestavia Hill, Ala., native is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Society, the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society and the National Student-Athlete Honor Society.
Andrew Blain of Marshall is the lone graduate student on the 2009 All-Academic Team. The Huntington, W.Va., native is pursuing a master's degree in exercise science with a focus in cardiac rehabilitation. He carries a 3.66 GPA and was also recognized as a C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll selection this year. Blain leads the Marshall pitching staff with a 2.50 ERA and a 1-1 record in 36 innings.
Eighth-seeded UCF placed senior first-baseman Kiko Vazquez on the All-Academic squad as a sports and fitness education major with a 3.43 GPA. The honor is the second for Vazquez in just three years and is the only member of the Knights to play in all 55 games this season. The Sebring, Fla., native claims a .565 slugging percentage and a .966 fielding percentage with only two errors on the year.
Junior pitcher Brennon Martin of Memphis was named to the All-Academic Team as a management major. Martin carries a 3.46 GPA and is a four-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member. The Memphis, Tenn., native leads the Tiger pitching staff with a 6-4 record and a 4.66 ERA.
The 2009 C-USA Baseball Championship gets underway Wednesday, May 20, with four games at the Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss. Semifinals will be played Saturday, May 23, while the championship game will take place at 1 p.m. CST on Sunday, May 24 and will be televised LIVE on CBS College Sports.
2009 C-USA BASEBALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Name - School - Class - GPA - Major
Brandon Henderson - East Carolina - Senior - 3.31 - Construction Management
Drew Schieber - East Carolina - Senior - 3.63 - Exercise Physiology
Blake Kelso - Houston - Sophomore - 3.42 - Economics
Andrew Blain - Marshall - Graduate - 3.66 - Exercise Science - Cardiac Rehabilitation
Brennon Martin - Memphis - Junior - 3.46 - Management
*Jimmy Comerota - Rice - Senior - 3.26 - Economics and Sport Management
*James Ewing - Southern Miss - Senior - 3.73 - Philosophy
Jonathan Garrett - Tulane - Senior - 3.35 - Bio-Medical Engineering
Nick Crawford - UAB - Sophomore - 3.46 - Finance
*James Oliver - UAB - Senior - 3.84 - Biology
*Kiko Vazquez - UCF - Senior - 3.43 - Sports and Fitness Education
*Repeat Selection
