SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State's Derek Hackman and the North Dakota State duo of Max Loven and Tucker Rohde and Omaha's Breyden Eckhout formed a quartet of repeat honorees on the 2021 #SummitBSB All-Academic Team released Tuesday by league officials. Hackman’s appearance on the team is the third of his career.
Those four were joined by five others on the team that featured at least one player from all five league baseball programs. The student-athletes were chosen for the honor based on their academic and athletic performances this past season.
North Dakota State, the 2021 Summit League Tournament champions, led the way with three honorees as Championship MVP Jake Malec joined Loven and Rohde to make up the Bison trio.
The Oral Roberts duo of Ryan Cash and Hunter Swift and the Western Illinois duo of Derek Botaletto and Kevin Raisbeck were all first-time recipients and gave each of those programs two representatives, while Hackman represented the Jackrabbits for the third straight year and Eckhout represented the Mavericks for the second year in a row.
To be eligible for the Academic All-League team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.30 (on a 4.0 scale), completed at least one full academic year at the current institution and participated in 50 percent of their team's competitions, except pitchers who must have participated in 20 percent of their team's total contests.
Nominations are brought forth by sports information directors from the league's participating members, and voting is conducted by both SIDs and FARs. The teams are made up of nine student-athletes receiving the most votes with all ties standing.
2021 Summit League Baseball All-Academic Team
| Name |
School |
Year |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major/Minor |
| Derek Botaletto |
Western Illinios |
So. |
Omaha, Neb. |
3.96 |
Communications/Psychology |
| Ryan Cash |
Oral Roberts |
Jr. |
Plano, Texas |
4.00 |
Master's Sport Management |
| Breyden Eckhout |
Omaha |
Sr. |
Amherst, Neb. |
3.83 |
Kinesiology |
| Derek Hackman* |
South Dakota State |
Sr. |
Johnston, Iowa. |
4.00 |
Computer Science |
| Max Loven* |
North Dakota State |
So. |
Brooklyn Park, Minn. |
3.85 |
Finance |
| Jake Malec |
North Dakota State |
Sr. |
Proctor, Minn. |
3.68 |
Exercise Science/Psychology |
| Kevin Raisbeck |
Western Illinois |
Sr. |
Beloit, Wis. |
3.88 |
Exercise Psychology |
| Tucker Rohde* |
North Dakota State |
Sr. |
Scottsdale, Ariz. |
3.73 |
Finance |
| Hunter Swift |
Oral Roberts |
Sr. |
Kansas City, Mo. |
3.83 |
Master's Sport Management |
*Previous Academic All-League honoree
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