By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Three Willamette University baseball players have been chosen for the 2023 NCAA Division III Academic All-District Baseball Team, as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA). Willamette's Academic All-District choices were Ethan Fischel (Grad., SS, Eureka, CA/Eureka HS), Jeff Hoffman (Jr., 3B, Salida, CA/Joseph A. Grigori HS), and Luke Werkmeister-Martin (Sr., 1B, Louisville, CO/Monarch HS). It was the third consecutive season that Werkmeister-Martin has earned Academic All-District honors.
All of the Academic All-District selections are eligible for the College Sports Communicators NCAA Division III Academic All-America Softball Team, which will be announced on June 6. Players nominated for the CSC All-District Team were starters or key reserves with cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Each nominated student-athlete was at their current college or university for at least one academic year. Werkmeister-Martin was named Third Team Academic All-America in 2021 and was chosen Second Team Academic All-America in 2022.
Willamette finished the season with a 25-14 overall record. The Bearcats tied for second place in the Northwest Conference with a 15-9 record and qualified for the NWC Tournament for the fourth time since 2016. WU earned a .293 team batting average while stealing 69 bases and scoring 7.2 runs per game. The Bearcats belted 57 doubles, four triples, and 35 homers on their way to 96 extra-base hits. Willamette pitchers struck out 295 batters in 339 innings.
NCAA Division III Academic All-District
Ethan Fischel (Grad., SS) batted .297 this season with 34 runs scored and 30 RBIs. He pounded seven doubles, and six home runs. He registered 97 assists on defense. For his career, Fischel is second all-time with 148 RBIs and is fifth with 28 homers. He is tied for sixth all-time with 56 double plays turned. He ranks fourth all-time with 583 at bats. His career statistics also include a .281 batting average, 130 runs scored, 31 doubles, and 21 of 26 on stolen bases. He played in 160 games with 155 starts. He was chosen Honorable Mention All-NWC in 2023 and was selected Second Team All-NWC in 2021 and 2022. He was named Third Team All-West Region by D3baseball.com in 2021.
Fischel graduated from Willamette with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Economics in 2022. This spring, he completed an MBA degree at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management in WU's 3+2 BA/MBA program. He recorded a 3.58 undergraduate GPA and a 3.88 graduate GPA.
Jeff Hoffman (Jr., 3B) hit .303 for the Bearcats this season and led the team with 10 homers, 40 runs, and 32 RBIs. He also blasted seven doubles and one triple. He ranks third all-time at Willamette with 30 career home runs. Hoffman owns a .304 career batting average. In 115 career games, he has earned 129 hits, 104 runs, 93 RBIs, 27 doubles, two triples, and nine stolen bases on nine attempts. He was chosen NWC Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-NWC in 2021, when he provided the Bearcats with 15 homers and nine doubles. Also in 2021, he was named Second Team All-Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and was chosen Third Team All-Region by D3baseball.com. Hoffman is majoring in Exercise and Health Science with a 3.68 cumulative GPA.
Luke Werkmeister-Martin (Sr., 1B) earned a .290 batting average while supplying Willamette with 20 runs, 25 RBIs, six doubles, and two home runs. He is eighth all-time at WU with a .348 career batting average. His career efforts also include 483 at bats, 168 hits, 107 runs, 98 RBIs, 34 doubles, and 17 homers. He was 36 of 42 on stolen bases. On defense, he ranked fourth with 888 career putouts while recording a .990 fielding percentage. In 2021, Werkmeister-Martin was chosen Third Team All-America by the ABCA and was named First Team All-Region by the ABCA and D3baseball.com. He was Honorable Mention All-NWC in 2023 and was Second Team All-NWC in 2021 and 2022.
Werkmeister-Martin graduated this spring with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Data Science. He is in Willamette's 3+2 Data Science program and will be completing a master's degree in Data Science. He owns a 3.97 cumulative GPA.
