By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University baseball team has received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) for the 2022-23 academic year. Willamette has qualified for the award each of the past five seasons since 2018-19.
Teams in all three NCAA Divisions, as well as NAIA teams, junior colleges, and high schools, were chosen for the Team Academic Excellence Award. A total of 163 teams in NCAA Division III were selected. Willamette and three other Northwest Conference teams earned the honor this year.
In order to qualify for the Team Academic Excellence Award, the team's head coach must be a member of the ABCA. In addition, the team must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Willamette was successful both in the classroom and on the field this season. The Bearcats achieved a 25-14 overall record, including 15-9 in the Northwest Conference as the Bearcats tied for second place.
"Our achievements in academics are a reflection of the values we instill on and off the field," said Willamette Head Baseball Coach Aaron Swick. "I couldn't be prouder of these exceptional student-athletes and their unwavering pursuit of excellence."
At the end of the regular season, Willamette qualified for the NWC Tournament, as the Bearcats reached the four-team event for the fourth time since 2016. Overall, WU pounded 57 doubles, four triples, and 35 homers on its way to a .293 team batting average. The Bearcats stole 69 bases and scored 7.2 runs per game. The pitching staff struck out 295 batters in 339 innings for a team average of 7.83 strikeouts per nine innings.
Luke Werkmeister-Martin (Sr., 1B, Louisville, CO/Monarch HS) was named Third Team Academic All-America by the College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA). It was the third consecutive season that Werkmeister-Martin received Academic All-America recognition. Werkmeister-Martin, Ethan Fischel (Grad., SS, Eureka, CA/Eureka HS) and Jeff Hoffman (Jr., 3B, Salida, CA/Joseph A. Grigori HS) were named Academic All-District by the CSC.
