Ball State University Athletics
Tyler Pritchard Named Academic All-MAC For Baseball
June 11, 2008 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State senior pitcher Tyler Pritchard has been named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference Baseball Team, as announced Wednesday by the league office.
Pritchard -- a four-year letterwinner at Ball State -- is a political science major, who owns a 3.715 grade-point average. He posted a perfect 4.0 GPA for the spring semester during his senior season.
The right-hander served as Ball State's No. 1 starting pitcher in 2008 and led the Cardinals' starting rotation with a 5.54 ERA. He pitched a team-high 76.1 innings and tallied a career-best 59 strikeouts.
Pritchard was at his best during conference play, posting a 3-2 record with a 4.60 ERA in MAC action. He turned in his top performance of the season in the MAC opener against eventual league co-champion Kent State when he shut out the Golden Flashes over seven innings. Pritchard allowed just five hits in his seven innings of work to earn the win.
Pritchard also earned conference wins versus Buffalo (April 5) and at Western Michigan (April 25). He struck out a season-high seven batters at nationally ranked Coastal Carolina (March 8) and versus Buffalo (April 5).
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
A total of 19 student-athletes were named to the team, as voted on by the league school's faculty athletic representatives. The number of honorees on the MAC All-Academic Team are the number that is set for the specific sport or 33 percent of the number of nominees, whichever is greater.
Western Michigan led all teams in 2008 with five selections to the Academic All-MAC Baseball Team. Eastern Michigan had four players named to the team, while Central Michigan, Miami and Toledo had two selections each.
