Entire release: http://www.conferenceusa.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/051914aaa.html
Old Dominion University senior righthander Dean Ali (Chesapeake, VA.) has been named to the 11-team 2014 Conference USA Baseball All-Academic Team. Ali has a 3.61 grade point average in electrical engineering. ODU opens the C-USA Baseball Tournament Wednesday at 10 AM against Middle Tennessee. Listen to the game live on STAR1310 AM with Ted Alexander providing the play-by-play.
On the mound, Ali is 5-2 with a 4.04 earned run average with one save and 56 strikeouts in 49 innings of work. He ranks second on the squad in strikeouts. Ali has been a key performer out of the Monarchs bullpen this season, appearing in 28 games which ranks second on the team. He fanned a season-high six in 4.1 innings of work against Louisiana Tech.
Two seniors, six juniors, one sophomore and one graduate student covering 10 teams comprise the 2014 Conference USA Baseball All-Academic Team as selected by the media relations contacts at each of the 13 baseball schools. In order to be eligible for the recognition student-athletes must hold a 3.2 cumulative grade point average, be of at least sophomore academic standing and be a starter or key reserve for their team.
FIU was the lone school to produce a pair of members, as junior catcher Aramis Garcia and senior relief pitcher Mike Gomez were named to the 11-member squad.
Garcia was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, an award recognizing the nation's top catcher. He currently leads Conference USA in slugging percentage (.587) and is second in batting average (.355) and on-base percentage (.435), while topping FIU in home runs (7) and placing second in total bases (91). Garcia also leads the conference and ranks among the national leaders in sacrifice flies (8). Defensively, he has thrown out nine base runners trying to steal. He was named C-USA Hitter of the Week on March 10 and was the conference's Preseason Co-Player of the Year. The sports and fitness major possesses a 3.78 GPA.
Gomez owns a 3.79 GPA in sports and fitness. He has made 22 relief appearances in 2014, posting a 1-1 record with a 4.94 ERA and eight saves. Gomez has registered 25 career saves, which is an FIU school record. He has recorded five saves this season in conference games.
Charlotte's Corbin Shive has started six games on the mound, appearing in nine games total. He has only allowed 16 earned runs on the year. As a two-way player, Shive tied for the team lead with five home runs, including a two-run walk-off in the bottom of the ninth inning against VCU. Shive is a graduate student that owns a 4.00 GPA while working on his Masters in Accounting. He is a five-time member of Charlotte's Chancellor's List and a one-time member of the Dean's List.
East Carolina senior utility player Drew Reynolds is a member of the All-Academic team for the third straight year and holds a 3.52 GPA in physical education. He is a four-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member (2011-14), a 2011 C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal Winner and a seven-time ECU Director of Athletics Honor Roll recipient. Reynolds is ECU's primary designated hitter and is batting .324 (71-for-219) with 8 doubles, 20 RBI and 31 runs scored. On the mound he owns a 4-2 record with a 2.22 ERA and five saves. Reynolds is now the school's all-time leader in saves (29).
Florida Atlantic senior outfielder Tyler Rocklein has started all 53 games this season and leads the Owls with 36 RBI, 13 doubles, four triples, and a .460 slugging percentage, while adding six stolen bases. He has six multiple RBI games and 18 multiple hit games. Rocklein is an exercise science major who maintains a 3.60 GPA.
Louisiana Tech senior OF Stephen Gandy is a redshirt senior who owns a 4.00 GPA while pursuing a Masters in Business Administration. He earned honors six quarters while at Louisiana Tech (five times Dean's list, one time President's List). Gandy was a recipient of the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal as well as being named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. Gandy posted a .267 batting average, while also totaling six doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI in the 37 games in which he has appeared in this season as a designated hitter. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with undergraduate degree in Marketing in May of 2013.
Rice junior catcher John Clay Reeves is in his first season with the Owls and was a member of the 2014 C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. The sport management major has a 3.40 GPA. Reeves has started 49 of the team's 54 games, owns a team-best .477 slugging percentage and a .394 on-base average. He has a .337 batting average with seven doubles, six home runs and 36 RBI. An outstanding defensive catcher, head coach Wayne Graham entrusts Reeves to call the pitches in games. In 40 starts behind the plate, and Reeves calling the game, the Rice pitchers have a better team ERA (1.87) than in the 14 games where he was not the starting catcher (4.39 ERA). The Owls' record with Reeves catching is 31-9, and without him as the backstop is 6-8.
Tulane outfielder Richard Carthon is the lone sophomore on the squad. He is a two-time honoree of the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and also earned the C-USA Academic Medal during his freshman season. Carthon, a legal studies major with a 3.66 GPA, is a two-time member of the Tulane 3.0 Club. He was one of just three Tulane baseball players to start in all 52 games during the 2014 season and he batted .258 with eight stolen bases. He led the Green Wave in runs scored (28), on base percentage (.367), walks (17) and hit by pitch (16).
Senior infielder Tyler Mims is a four-time Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member and a four-time recipient of the C-USA Academic Medal. He owns a 3.92 GPA in industrial distribution. Mims has served as a key reserve for UAB at both catcher and first base and owns a .250 batting average on the year, knocking in 16 runs. Mims has posted five multiple RBI games on the year, which ranks third on the squad.
UTSA junior catcher John Bormann is a business major that carries a 3.76 GPA. He earned the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal and was a member of the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. Bormann has been on the Dean's List every semester at UTSA as well as the President's List. The two-time Johnny Bench Award Watch List member ('13,'14) leads Conference USA with 11 pickoffs and has thrown out 22 attempted base stealers. He is batting .271 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 20 RBI.
2014 Conference USA Baseball All-Academic Team (*Repeat Selection)
NAME SCHOOL YEAR GPA MAJOR
Corbin Shive Charlotte Gr. 4.00 Masters, Accounting
*Drew Reynolds East Carolina Jr. 3.52 Physical Education
Tyler Rocklein Florida Atlantic Sr. 3.60 Exercise Science
Aramis Garcia FIU Jr. 3.78 Sports and Fitness
Mike Gomez FIU Jr. 3.79 Sports and Fitness
Stephen Gandy Louisiana Tech R-Sr. 4.00 Masters, Business Administration
Dean Ali Old Dominion Sr. 3.61 Electrical Engineering
John Clay Reeves Rice Jr. 3.40 Sport Management
Richard Carthon Tulane So. 3.66 Legal Studies
*Tyler Mims UAB R-Jr. 3.92 Industrial Distribution
John Bormann UTSA Jr. 3.76 Business