KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In an announcement made today by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), seven Bellevue University baseball athletes were named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes for the 2022-23 academic year.
Those honored with the prestigious academic award include Bruins Easton Brinton, Kanta Kobayashi, Anthony Lind, Cade Sakamoto, Austin Shever, Mathieu Sirois, and CJ Townsend.
Bryan (Tenn.), Indiana Tech, and Siena Heights (Mich.) are tied for the lead nationally with 19 representatives each. Oklahoma Wesleyan has the fourth most with 16 and Indiana Kokomo rounds out the top five with 15.
In order to be nominated by an institution's head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year at said institution.
The Bruins (48-8) will begin play in the Avista NAIA World Series on Friday (May 26) when they will meet William Carey at 5:05 p.m. (central time) at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho. Bellevue won the North Star Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles and captured the NAIA National Championship Opening Round - Bellevue Bracket.
Bellevue will be competing in its 16th NAIA World Series and the third in the last four seasons under head coach Duane Monlux.
