Full Release
INDIANAPOLIS – Following a shortened spring season, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) named three baseball student-athletes from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference to the 2020 Academic All-District® First Team.
Senior pitchers Eric Mullet (Berlin, OH/Hiland) from Malone and Devin Smith (Teutopolis, IL) from Kentucky Wesleyan were each selected by the organization along with Cedarville sophomore infielder Payton Eeles (Acworth, GA/Allatoona).
A total of 12 student-athletes were selected in District 4 of Division II, which includes the Great Midwest, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Mullet is a three-time all-conference section and was off to a torrid start in the spring while being named East Division Pitcher of the Week two times. He has a 3.76 GPA in Business Administration & Finance.
Mullet was 1-1 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts while recording 21 strikeouts in 19 innings tossed. He finished one strikeout shy of 200 for his career to rank fourth in current conference history and his 22 wins is tied for the third most among all Great Midwest hurlers.
His career ERA of 3.36 is also fourth among qualified starters, which includes former Great Midwest Pitchers of the Year Roscoe Blackburn (Malone), Michael Purcell (Trevecca Nazarene) and Randy Dobnak (Alderson Broaddus).
Smith burst on to the scene in 2019 as an impact transfer for Kentucky Wesleyan, securing NCAA Division II All-American accolades and Great Midwest Pitcher of the Year status. The 6-4 righty was also on the fast track this spring with a 1.15 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched through three starts.
Last year, he was the league leader with 91 strikeouts and was second in the league with a 2.70 ERA. He had a reported GPA of 3.70 majoring in Business Administration.
Also a newcomer to the Great Midwest baseball landscape in 2019 was the conference freshman of the year Eeles, who also was named a Third Team All-American by the D2CCA.
Eeles was the league leader in batting average (.424) and swiped 27 bases and ended the season on a 30-game win streak. He was hitting .396 through 11 games in the spring and will carry a career average of .418 into 2021.
Eeles is just a sophomore and was the youngest member on the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team with a 3.61 GPA in Civil Engineering.
Honorees selected first-team Academic All-District® will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. Academic All-America® honorees will be announced from June 8-11. The CoSIDA Academic All-America contest Is career based this spring due to the varied season lengths that were completed. Sophomores or above athletically and academically are eligible. Graduate transfers were also immediately eligible.
The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs.