From Washington University Athletics
Washington University in St. Louis seniors Chris Lowery and Zack Kessinger were each named to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America Division III Baseball Team, as announced Tuesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Lowery was one of three outfielders selected to the Academic All-America First Team, while Kessinger was one of four infielders to receive Third-Team honors, marking just the second time in school history the Bears have had two Academic All-Americans in the same season. WashU was one of three schools to have two individuals on the 2015 Academic All-America team, joining Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Saint John's University (Minn.). Lowery joined Zander Lehmann (2009) as the only two Academic All-America First-Team honorees in program history. Lowery and Kessinger brought WashU's all-time number of baseball Academic All-Americans to 11 individuals and 14 honors.
Lowery, who earned first-team All-America honors from D3baseball.com and second-team accolades from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings, was also the 2015 D3baseball.com Central Region Player of the Year while earning All-Region honors for the third time in his career. The 2015 University Athletic Association (UAA) Player of the Year and UAA Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player, he finished the season ranked second in NCAA Division III for hits (84) and RBIs (67), and was 10th in runs scored (55) and RBIs per game (1.34).
A four-time All-UAA honoree, Lowery finished his career as WashU's all-time hits leader with 243. He ranks fourth in school history in career games played (165) and RBIs (152), fifth in batting average (.384), tied for eighth in doubles (38), and ninth in stolen bases (38) and runs scored (133). He also set single-season school records for at-bats (204), hits and RBIs in his senior season. A three-time Academic All-UAA honoree, he graduated with a 3.58 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in finance.
Kessinger, a three-time All-UAA First-Team honoree, received All-Region Second-Team accolades from D3baseball.com and was a third-team All-Region selection from ABCA/Rawlings as a senior. He started all 174 games played in his career, the most in school history, and became WashU's all-time career leader in RBIs (162) during the 2015 NCAA Midwest Regional. Kessinger also finished second in program history in career hits (237), fourth in doubles (45) and tied for 10th in runs scored (124). His 72 hits this season ranked 16th in NCAA Division III, while his 52 RBIs were 19th.
A member of the 2015 UAA Championship All-Tournament Team, he set a WashU single-season record with 405 putouts, and had just one error in 426 chances this season. Kessinger also reached base safely in the first 49 games of his senior season, and finished with a streak of 54 consecutive games reaching base, which is the third-longest streak in NCAA Division III history. A three-time Academic All-UAA and UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete, he graduated with a 3.73 GPA while double-majoring in finance and marketing with a minor in legal studies.
In order to be selected to an Academic All-America team, a student-athlete must possess at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing.
Lowery and Kessinger led WashU to a 34-16 overall record this season, tying the program's single-season wins record. The Bears also earned a share of the 2015 UAA Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regional for the ninth time in school history.