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Three Bears Named to Academic All-District Baseball Team

Three Bears Named to Academic All-District Baseball Team
Posted: May 07, 2015

From Washington University Athletics

Three seniors on the Washington University in St. Louis baseball team were selected to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-District Five Baseball First Team, as announced Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Brian Cizek, Zack Kessinger and Chris Lowery each received the honor. Cizek and Lowery were repeat selections from 2013, while Kessinger was named to the Academic All-District Team for the first time in his career. It marks the third time in the last five seasons that WashU has had three individuals named to the Academic All-District First Team.

Cizek started 27 games at designated hitter for the Bears this season before being sidelined with an injury. He batted .347 with 35 hits. Cizek is second on the team with four homeruns and a .554 slugging percentage, and is tied for fourth with nine doubles and fifth with 24 RBIs. He has had 12 multiple-hit and eight multiple-RBI games this season. In a win at Millikin March 17, Cizek went 3-for-4 with a double, two homeruns, three runs scored and a career-high six RBIs. A three-time Academic All-University Athletic Association (UAA) selection, he holds a 3.79 GPA while majoring in political science with a minor in environmental earth science.

Kessinger has started all 44 games at first base this season, and has reached base safely in 49 consecutive games dating to April 30, 2014. A three-time All-UAA First-Team honoree, he is second in the conference with 43 RBIs, while ranking third in batting average (.380), hits (62), doubles (15) and runs scored (41). Kessinger was named to the 2015 UAA Championship All-Tournament team, and set a WashU single-season record for putouts (356) this season. He currently ranks second on the Bears' all-time career leaderboards for hits (227) and RBIs (153), and is fourth in doubles (43). Kessinger has missed just two games in his career, making 168 career starts for the Bears. A three-time Academic All-UAA and UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete, he holds a 3.72 GPA while double-majoring in finance and marketing with a minor in legal studies.

Lowery has also started all 44 games this season, while playing right field, left field, third base and designated hitter. The 2015 UAA Player of the Year and UAA Championship Most Valuable Player, he leads NCAA Division III with 76 hits and 65 RBIs this season. Lowery is also tied for first in the UAA and eighth in Division III with 50 runs scored, while ranking second in the conference in batting average (.420) and stolen bases (23), and third in homeruns (five). A four-time All-UAA and two-time D3baseball.com All-Region Third Team selection, he is first in school history in career hits (235), fourth in RBIs (150) and games played (159), fifth in batting average (.386), eighth in doubles (38) and ninth in runs scored (128). This season Lowery has also set WashU single-season records for at bats (181) and RBIs (65). A three-time Academic All-UAA honoree, he holds a 3.58 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in finance.

In order to be selected to an Academic All-District team, a student-athlete must possess at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing. As members of the Academic All-District Team, Cizek, Kessinger and Lowery will be among the nominees for the NCAA Division III Capital One Academic All-America Baseball Team, which will be announced Thursday, June 2.