COLUMBUS — The Mississippi University for Women’s baseball team was recognized for its academic achievements on Thursday. The Owls were given their first Team Academic Excellence Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association following a year where the team posted a 3.04 grade point average, making them one of just four programs in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to achieve the honor.
The W was one of 170 out of 440 NCAA Division III programs to be recognized.
“I am very proud of our team for doing the work to receive this award,” fourth-year head coach Scott Mularz said of the award. “A tenet of our program, as well as NCAA Division III, is the importance of balance between academics and athletics. The discipline it took to qualify for the ABCA award, and also doing the work to achieve the success we had on the field, is really just a life lesson that helps our players grow as men for the future.”
The 2024-25 squad saw eight players named in the SLIAC All-Academic team, with four players earning Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators.
It was a season of firsts on the field for the team as well. Mularz and the Owls finished with a program-best 22-15 record in DIII last year, ranking second in the SLIAC regular season standings and reaching the conference championship series in their first postseason berth as a DIII program.
Landon Clark and Zach Johnson earned All-Region honors, and Clark became the school’s first-ever DIII All-American. The pair joined teammates Avery Benson, Baron Brack and Campbell McCluney as All-SLIAC honorees as well.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
