Baseball Quintet Earn Academic All-District Honors

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State Baseball had five student-athletes honored with Academic All-District honors this season, as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).

The quintet includes John Bakke, Colton Becker, Jackson Feltner, Grant Herron and Ryley Preece

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) began the distinguished Academic All-America® program in 1952, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America® scholar-athlete honors. In 2022, CoSIDA rebranded itself as the College Sports Communicators. In 2022, the guidelines were updated to include more representation on the All-District teams. Sports have limitations to the number of athletes that can be nominated and the minimum grade-point average was raised to 3.50.

Prior to this season, nine MSU baseball student-athletes have ever earned Academic All-America, including Bakke last spring.

Bakke, a native of Huntsville, Ala., who has a 4.0 GPA in his sports management master's program, has been a starter and closer throughout his career and this season. He recently tied the MSU career record with his 17th save. He is 5-3 in 2023 with a 5.75 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 61 innings.

Becker, a senior from Maineville, Ohio, owns a 3.65 GPA in strategic communications. He is having a breakout season. The shortstop is batting .344 with 16 doubles, eight home runs and four triples and ranks among the OVC's top base stealers where he is 21-of-21. He sports a .598 slugging percentage with a .425 on-base clip.

Feltner, a junior first baseman from Louisa, Ky., was the Preseason OVC Player of the Year and is backing up that claim. In the classroom, Feltner has a 3.53 GPA in engineering technology. On the field, he leads the Eagles with a .346 batting average, which includes 14 doubles and 13 home runs. He has also crossed the plate 56 times and has a .660 slugging percentage. Defensively, he sports a .991 fielding accuracy. Heading into the final weekend of regular-season play, Feltner has reached base safely in 35 consecutive games. 

Herron, a junior right-handed pitcher from Greenwood, Ind., has a .376 GPA in his chosen major of finance. He leads all Eagle pitchers with 64 strikeouts in 55 innings. Herron is 5-1 with a 5.04 ERA.

Preece is a junior outfielder from Paintsville, Ky., who has a 3.78 GPA in exercise science. He is making a strong case for OVC Player of the Year with his 19 home runs, 14 doubles, four triples and 49 RBI - leading the team in three of those four. Preece also has 20 stolen bases and is one swipe away from becoming the first 20-20 (home runs & stolen bases) player in program history. He leads the OVC in runs scored with 65 and has a .736 slugging percentage to go along with a 32-game reached base streak.