Seven Huskers Earn Academic All-Big 12 Honors

DALLAS - Seven University of Nebraska baseball players were honored for their work in the classroom Wednesday, as the Big 12 Conference released its academic All-Big 12 team.

The seven honorees is second only to Oklahoma State's eight selections, as a total of 50 players were tabbed for academic honors. NU has 25 academic All-Big 12 honorees, including 20 first-team choices over the past five seasons.

The list is highlighted by a trio of repeat first-team selections; pitchers Shane Komine (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Jamie Rodrigue (St. Clair, Mo.) and outfielder Jeff Leise (Omaha, Neb.). Four other Huskers, pitchers Jeff Blaesing (Lockport, Ill.) and Steve Hale (Yukon, Okla.), infielder Will Bolt (Conroe, Texas) and outfielder Drew Anderson (Kearney, Neb.) were chosen to the second team. All four second-team honorees are first-time recipients.

To qualify for the honor, a student-athlete must maintain a 3.0 grade point average or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of his team's scheduled contests. Pitchers must have at least one inning pitched per game played by the team or have appeared in 35 percent of their team's total games. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation also are eligible.

The No. 13 Huskers (35-17) are in action this evening when they travel to Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium for a match-up with intrastate rival Creighton. A crowd of nearly 20,000 is expected, making it one of the largest regular-season crowds in school history. The game will be carried by the Pinnacle Sports Network and will be broadcast state-wide on Nebraska Educational Television.