By: Hayden Foltz, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore.- The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket baseball team saw 14 of its student athletes earn Academic All-GNAC recognition, announced early this afternoon.
To receive the honor, players must have a minimum grade point average of 3.2 and be in their second season of competition at their current institution to qualify for academic all-conference. Of the 14 Yellowjackets,
Payton Flynn was the only returning honoree with the rest being recognized for the first time in their collegiate careers.
HEAR FROM WADDOUPS: "We have an outstanding group of young men that understand what it means to be a student athlete. They have put in a lot of hard work in their education to work towards graduation. I'm really proud to be a part of such an outstanding group of young men. Our coaching staff has done a great job of recruiting high character individuals that understand what it means to be a true student athlete."
Payton Flynn led the way as the only returning honoree, holding a 3.35 GPA while majoring in Business Management. Flynn, a preseason All-American selection has started in all 34 games for the 'Jackets while hitting .321 with 26 runs, seven home runs, and a team leading 25 RBI's.
For the new honorees,
Keegan Weston,
Hunter Smith, and
Cy Miller are all working towards a Health & Human Performance degree with an emphasis in performance. Weston currently holds a 3.79 GPA through his three completed semesters at MSUB. Smith, who is returning from a UCL injury is expected to make a return in the upcoming weeks and holds a 3.69 GPA. Meanwhile, Miller holds a 3.60 GPA and has made quite an impact on the mound this season. The lefty has earned a GNAC Pitcher of the Week award and has made nine appearances, including seven starts.
Leading the 'Jackets with a 3.92 GPA is first time honoree
Cole Bertram who is majoring in Accounting. Bertram has made seven appearances on the year, throwing 11.1 innings while striking out 14 hitters.
Andy Evans and
Lance Schaaf were next in line in GPA with Evans holding a 3.79 while majoring in Chemistry, and Schaaf holding a 3.75 while majoring in HHP-Teaching. Evan's has made seven appearances on the season, starting two games and throwing 19 total innings. Meanwhile, Schaaf has thrown 11.2 innings for MSUB in his seven appearances.
The next three Yellowjackets majoring in Business Management are
Jake Finkelstein,
Parker Bleggi, and
Zack Blaszak. While holding a 3.66 GPA, Finkelstein has also made seven starts and collected two wins in his 29.2 innings of work. Bleggi has earned a 3.52 GPA while making 20 appearances, starting in nine of them while hitting .270 on the season. Meanwhile, Blaszak earned a 3.45 GPA while also leading the 'Jackets offensively. The Park City, UT native leads the team in batting average (.346), OPS (.937), hits (44), walks (16), and on base percentage (.425) for all qualified hitters.
Rounding it out for MSUB is
Jack Nehler, an HHP-Teaching major with a 3.42 GPA,
Kaden Kirshenbaum, a Business Administration major with a 3.38 GPA,
Sage Wayment, an Environmental Studies major with a 3.26 GPA, and
Brock Molenda, a Criminal Justice major with a 3.23 GPA. Despite just being under the qualifying hitters for number of plate appearances, Nehler would lead the 'Jackets in all major categories: batting average (.368), OPS (1.004), slugging percentage (.575), and on base percentage (.429). Kirshenbaum is also having another respectable year, leading the team in home runs with eight while hitting .279 from the plate. Wayment, who is 2-2 on the year with two saves, is leading the team in WHIP (1.48), second in ERA (5.53), and third in batting average against (.291).
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets (11-23, 5-11 GNAC) return to conference play this weekend with a four-game series against Saint Martin's with first pitch starting on April 12
th at 1 PM.
