Four Huskers Named Academic All-District

Four University of Nebraska baseball players were honored Thursday with their selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII baseball team.

Pitcher Dan Jennings and outfielders Nick Sullivan, Bryce Nimmo and DJ Belfonte all earned spots on the 11-member first team, as Nebraska’s four first-team selections were the most of any school in the district. All four players will advance to the national ballot and contend for Academic All-America honors.

This is the second selection for Nimmo, who earned first-team academic all-district honors in 2006, and the first selections for Jennings, Sullivan and Belfonte.

Nimmo, a three-year starter in center field who has a 3.50 GPA in finance, has put together his best season. He is hitting .323 with a homer, 21 RBIs and 38 runs scored, ranking among the team leaders in walks, on-base percentage and runs scored.

Belfonte, one of only two sophomores named to the 11-member all-district team, has a 3.67 GPA in finance. On the field, he has started every game in 2008, hitting .260 with a homer, 34 RBIs and 35 runs scored. He leads NU with 14 doubles and 10 stolen bases, while ranking third with 14 multi-hit games.

Sullivan, who has a team-best 3.78 GPA in finance, has been one of the Huskers’ top run producers this season, hitting .328 with three homers and 30 RBIs. He earned Big 12 weekly honors earlier this season, hitting .444 with nine RBIs in a five-game stretch against Arkansas and Oklahoma, including four multi-RBI contests.

Jennings, who has a 3.26 GPA in economics, has been one of the Huskers’ top performers on the mound, going 5-0 with four saves and a 2.44 ERA in 17 games. He is in the top 10 in the Big 12 in ERA, saves and opponent batting average and tossed 30.1 consecutive scoreless innings earlier this season.

In addition to the four baseball players, sophomore pitcher Molly Hill also garnered academic honors, as she was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII softball team. Hill, who carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in speech-language pathology, is honored with her second straight first-team selection. She carries a 12-16 record with a 3.23 ERA entering this weekend’s Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City.

2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII Baseball Team
P       Rob Musgrave    WICHITA STATE   Sr.     Carbondale, Kan.        3.76    Accounting     
P       Dan Jennings    NEBRASKA        Jr.     West Des Moines, Iowa   3.28    Economics      
C       Kole Zimmerman  NORTH DAKOTA STATE      Gr.     Windom, Minn.   3.85, 4.00 (grad)       History
INF     Craig Parry     SOUTH DAKOTA STATE      Sr.     Colstrip, Mont. 3.82    HPER/Pre-Physical Therapy      
INF     Justin Ellrich  KANSAS  Sr.     Manchester, Mo. 3.90    Chemical Engineering   
INF     Brett Scott     KANSAS STATE    Gr.     Manhattan, Kan. 3.98, 4.00 (grad)       Business Administration
INF     Kevin Hoef      IOWA    Jr.     Troy, Ill.      3.72    Pre-Business   
OF      Nick Sullivan   NEBRASKA        Jr.     Arvada, Colo.   3.78    Finance
OF      Bryce Nimmo     NEBRASKA        Sr.     Cheyenne, Wyo.  3.50    Finance
OF      DJ Belfonte     NEBRASKA        So.     Kansas City, Mo.        3.67    Finance
DH      Ben Carlson     MISSOURI STATE  So.     Topeka, Kan.    3.90    General business       

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