Vin Cosenzo Becomes Two-Time First-Team Academic All-American
Earns award for second consecutive season
AUSTIN, Texas – University of Tampa's Vin Cosenzo was named a first-team Academic All-American for the second straight year. He earned a spot on the 2017 Academic All-America® Division II Baseball team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 Division II Academic All-America® teams program.
Cosenzo, a senior designated hitter from North Caldwell, New Jersey, is an accounting major with a 3.92 G.P.A. He helped Tampa finish with a 39-14 record and reach the NCAA Division II South Regional.
He earned first team All-Sunshine State Conference honors while hitting .361 with 16 doubles, two triples, five home runs, and 43 RBI. In addition, he was a first team D2CCA All-South Region choice after earning second team accolades a year ago, and was recently named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association honorable mention All-American.
As a junior, Cosenzo, a former transfer from Rutgers, earned first team CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors after hitting .420 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI.
Tyler Falk of Clarion University has been selected as the recipient of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year award for Division II baseball.
A finance major, Falk has a 4.00 G.P.A. He is now a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America® selection after earning third team honors a year ago. He was the first Clarion baseball player to ever earn the honor in 2016.
A native of Fombell, Pennsylvania, Falk earned All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division second team honors for the second time. He was also a second team choice in 2014. The first basemen led Clarion in multiple offensive categories. His .375 batting average paced all Golden Eagles in 2017, as did his .539 slugging percentage and .491 on-base percentage. Batting second in the order, Falk finished with team highs of 12 doubles and three home runs, and had 17 RBI, just one behind the team lead. He also had a team-high 30 walks while striking out just 13 times in 128 at bats.
Falk earned third team CoSIDA Academic All-America® accolades in 2016 after hitting a team-high .374 with 13 doubles and 30 RBI. He hit over .360 in all four seasons, with a .378 average as a sophomore and .363 as a freshman.
Twenty-three of the 33 members of the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® NCAA Division II baseball teams have at least a 3.80 G.P.A., including six student-athletes who maintain a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. The 11 members of the first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.97.
Falk is joined by seven other former CoSIDA Academic All-America® performers on the 2017 teams. Vin Cosenzo of the University of Tampa was named to the first team in 2016. Kyle Serrano of Colorado Mesa University was a second team CoSIDA Academic All-America® a year ago and moved up to the first team this year. Logan Augustine of Lincoln Memorial University was also named to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team after earning third team honors in 2016. Newberry College's Jeff Sneed moved up from the third team to earn second team honors this year, while Tanner Bird of Franklin Pierce University was a second team pick a year ago and now earns third team honors.
Lee Sponseller of Ohio Dominican University and Shepherd University's Jacob Carney were named to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® team after previously being recognized in 2015.
Serrano is senior catcher from Grand Junction, Colorado, with a 3.97 G.P.A. as a business major. He has helped Colorado Mesa to a berth in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship after winning the South Central Regional. It is the third time the Mavericks have reached the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship. Colorado Mesa has a 48-10 record.
A three-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honoree, he was a first team selection in 2017 and is second on the team in batting average with a .411 average. He has 23 doubles, nine home runs, and has driven in 33 runs. Serrano was named to the RMAC All-Tournament team for the second time as the Mavericks won the RMAC Tournament.
Augustine helped Lincoln Memorial to the second-most wins in school history, as the Railsplitters finished with a 35-19 record, reaching the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. A native of Urbandale, Iowa, the junior outfielder is a chemistry major with a 3.99 G.P.A.
Augustine helped pace one of the top offenses in Division II. He led the high-powered LMU offense in batting average (.399), runs (74), hits (77), doubles (19), home runs (13), slugging percentage (.720), walks (46), on-base percentage (.522) and steals (13). The 74 runs were a school record, while his on-base percentage was the third-highest in program history and his slugging percentage is tied for fourth all-time. Augustine is just the second player in school history to tally at least 13 steals without being caught stealing.
He was named to the ABCA All-Southeast Region first team, and is now a three-time All-ABCA honoree. He also earned D2CCA and NCBWA All-Region accolades, and was a first team All-South Atlantic Conference pick.
Sneed is a Cumming, Georgia, native with a 3.94 G.P.A. in business administration and graphic design. The senior started 48 games at catcher for the Wolves, recording a .331 batting average, with 10 doubles, a home run, and 37 RBI. He recorded 13 multi-hit games and caught 14 runners stealing for a .517 stolen base percentage.
Sneed was named the South Atlantic Conference's Gold Glove recipient at catcher. He helped Newberry to a 32-21 record and was named to the SAC All-Tournament team. He was named the 2016 SAC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Bird is a graduate student from Adams, Massachusetts with a 3.84 G.P.A. as a marketing major. He helped lead Franklin Pierce to a 33-15 record, reaching the championship game of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament. He appeared in 17 games, with five starts. He posted a 4-2 record with a 2.53 ERA. In 46.1 innings, he allowed 38 hits and 17 walks while striking out 55.
As a senior in 2016, he earned ABCA All-America second team honors and was a D2CCA All-America second team selection, as well. He was a first team All-NE10 selection after finishing fourth in Division II in WHIP (0.84), sixth in ERA (1.55), ninth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.77), and 22nd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.46).
Sponseller is a redshirt junior outfielder from Mason, Ohio. He has a 3.68 G.P.A. as a finance and economics major. He helped the Panthers to a 25-24 record while earning first team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors for the second time, along with second team ABCA All-Midwest Region honors.
Sponseller batted .341 with 11 doubles, 14 homers, and 37 RBI. He also walked a GLIAC-best 41 times, which led to a .474 on-base percentage, and had a .665 slugging percentage. He ranked second in the league in homers, fourth in slugging and eighth in OBP, and his 46 runs scored were also the ninth-best mark in the conference. He was previously named the 2015 GLIAC Freshman of the Year and was a first team All-GLIAC choice.
Carney helped Shepherd finish with a 33-24 record and qualify for the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. A senior first baseman from Stephens City, Virginia, he is a biology (chemistry) major with a 3.64 G.P.A. He is a four-time All-Mountain East Conference selection, earning first team honors in 2014 and 2017, along with second team accolades in 2015, and honorable mention recognition in 2016.
This year, Carney hit .355 with eight doubles, three home runs, and 32 RBI, along with 10 stolen bases while starting all 56 games he appeared in. He hit at least .350 all four years with the Rams, and holds the career record for hits (278) and runs scored (195).
The rest of the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team includes pitchers Jacob Blank of Augustana (S.D.) University and Kyle Leahy of Colorado Mesa, infielders Matthew Furuto of the University of Montevallo, Saint Joseph's (Ind.) College's Joshua Handzik, and Paul Kirby of Carson-Newman University, and outfielders Nick Debo of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and University of Central Missouri's Matt Elliott.
The 11-member second team includes pitchers Michael Fairfchild of Azusa Pacific University and Rockhurst University's Michael Lydon-Lorson, infielders Clayton Ayres of Georgia College, Riley Benner of Saint Joseph's (Ind.), Ohio Dominican University's Justin Childers, and Collin Nevil of Central Missouri, outfielders Keanan Locke of Malone University and Regis University's Josh Newell, and designated hitter Ben Herring of Newberry.
The 12-member third team is comprised of pitchers Roscoe Blackburn of Malone and the University of Mount Olive's Bruce Zimmerman, catcher Matt Noel of Malone, infielders Calvin Hawke of Barton College, Phillip Steering of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and Adelphi University's Robert Vani, outfielders Andrew Beyer of the University of Mary, Northwood (Mich.) University's Connor Foley, and Robert Petrillo of the University of New Haven, and designated hitter Aaron Mack of Newman University.