Baseball Southern Conference

Four SoCon Baseball Players Earn Academic All-America Honors

Wofford

Wofford designated hitter David Dufour has received first-team Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The only SoCon player to be a first-team Academic All-America selection this season, Dufour is also the first Terrier baseball player in nine years on the Division I level to garner the accolade. The last Wofford baseball player to receive Academic All-America honors was Justin Laughlin during the 1993 and 1994 campaigns, when the Terriers competed in Division II.

Dufour batted a team-high .395 with eight home runs and 20 RBI in his 28 SoCon games this spring. For the season, he led the Terriers with a .307 mark at the plate.

The senior and Morrow, Ohio, native placed second behind teammate David Long in home runs per game in SoCon action. Dufour was the SoCon leader in slugging percentage (.815) for league contests only.

Dufour received SoCon Player of the Month honors in April when he batted .455 with four home runs, six doubles and 13 RBI in 12 SoCon games. He had .864 slugging and .500 on-base percentages during those league contests.

Dufour was also named the TIAA-CREF SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week when he hit .538 (7-of-13) with two home runs and nine RBI as the Terriers won two of three games at Furman (April 16-18).
Elon

ELON, N.C. -- Gary Morris (Franklin, N.C.), a junior second baseman on the Elon University baseball squad, was honored with Third Team Academic All-American honors as an infielder on Tuesday. At the time of selection, Morris sported a 3.68 GPA in environmental studies.

Morris hit a team-best .379 in 59 games for Elon this season, scoring a team-high 64 runs. He set a new Phoenix single-season record with his 88 hits that included 17 doubles, one triple and a career-high seven homers. Morris finished second on the squad with 21 steals and was only caught stealing six times.

He entered Elon's top-10 in the following single-season categories this season: hits (1st - 88), at bats (3rd - 232), runs scored (2nd - 64), doubles (7th - 17) and total bases (5th - 128). In career categories he rates among the top-10 all-time in: games played (10th - 167), at bats (8th - 589), hits (9th - 185), runs scored (4th - 147) and doubles (9th - 31).

Morris becomes the sixth Elon student-athlete to claim All-American distinction since 2000. Below is a full list.


College of Charleston

College of Charleston right fielder Phillip Coker and first baseman Brett Anderson have been selected to the 2004 Academic All-America Baseball teams, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Tuesday.

Coker, who sports a 3.97 grade point average while majoring in Chemistry, was named to the second team while Anderson earned third team honors. Anderson has a 3.45 gpa and is majoring in Communications.

Coker enters the Baton Rouge NCAA Baseball Regional with a .382 batting average and has a SoCon-leading and a school-record 74 runs scored. Coker has two homers, 35 RBI and 15 stolen bases.

Anderson, whose 27 career homers is tied for the top spot in school history, is hitting .340 with a club-leading 16 homers and 61 RBI. The Charleston native has added 42 walks, 14 HBPs, 64 runs and 12 doubles.

The Cougars, who are seeded third and ranked 30th in the latest NCBWA Top 35 poll, take on second-seeded Southern Mississippi (44-17) in the opening round of the Baton Rouge Regional at 7:30 eastern on Friday. CofC is 45-14 overall.

The Academic All-America teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.