Barnett, Crowder Earn WCC All-Academic Honors
5/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MALIBU, Calif. " Pepperdine baseball players Aaron Barnett and Matt Crowder earned recognition on the West Coast Conference's All-Academic list this week for their work in the classroom and on the field. Three other Waves also earned honorable mention.
The list consists of 13 student-athletes from eight different WCC institutions and honors players who earn GPA's of 3.20 or better. Barnett and Crowder are two of four athletes on the list to also earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors earlier this year. Also earning honorable mention were Brandon Caruso, Kiko Garcia and Ben Rodriguez.
Barnett posted a 3.84 GPA as an economics major, good for the fifth best GPA on the All-Academic team. The senior designated hitter/catcher led Pepperdine this season with a .298 batting average, compiling 57 total hits with 14 doubles and one triple. Barnett drove in 25 runs and scored 22, posting a .382 slugging percentage and .352 on-base percentage. He was the sixth toughest player in the country to strike out this year, fanning just once every 19.1 at-bats.
Crowder, also an economics major, had the fourth best GPA on the list with a 3.91 average. The senior infielder compiled 26 hits this season, scoring 12 runs and driving in nine. Crowder posted a .317 on-base percentage and had four extra-base hits on the year, all doubles.
It is the second straight year both Crowder and Barnett have been named to the WCC All-Academic Team. Barnett has earned the honor each of the last three seasons.
Caruso posted a 3.26 GPA as a film studies major, Garcia a 3.54 GPA as a business administration major and Ben Rodriguez a 3.43 GPA as a physics major. Rodriguez led the team this season with 31 RBI and five home runs, and was also named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar this season. Caruso was second on the team with 12 doubles on the year and Garcia had a 4-1 record out of the bullpen with a 2.53 ERA.
