Baseball | 6/5/2024 10:19:00 AM

June 5, 2024- The Emporia State baseball team had five Hornets named Academic All-District as selected by College Sports Communicators. Cade Barton, Graham Brunner, Dom Oliverio, T.J. Racherbaumer and Andrew Rantz were all named CSC Academic All-District for their work in the classroom.

Barton has a 3.85 GPA in Biology while earning Honorable Mention All-MIAA on the mound for the Hornets. He ranked third in the MIAA with a 3.18 ERA in his 10 starts this season. Despite an injury against Missouri Western in early April, Barton finished the year 16th in the MIAA with 62.1 innings pitched and was 18th in strikeouts with 53. Among qualified pitchers in the conference, the Omaha, Neb. native's .245 BAA was the sixth lowest across the MIAA.

Brunner maintains a 3.69 GPA in Sport Leadership and was also named Honorable Mention All-MIAA on the mound. He posted a 4.25 ERA and a 3-1 record across 12 starts. Brunner struck out 59 batters with just 16 walks in his 55.0 innings pitched. His strikeout total ranked 11th in the MIAA. In five of his 12 outings, Brunner recorded seven or more strikeouts, including a career-high nine strikeouts against then #2 Central Missouri.

Oliverio has a 3.50 GPA in Health and Human Performance. He is in his first season at Emporia State and hit .275 with a .365 on base percentage, six home runs, six doubles, three triples, 22 RBI, and 29 runs scored. He had nine multi-hit games, including a five for five game in the series finale against then #10 Missouri Southern. 

Racherbaumer has a 3.75 GPA in Sport Leadership. He hit .304 with a .441 on base percentage and has four home runs, 28 RBI, 32 walks and 34 runs scored this season. In 2022, he was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year, hitting .362 with 41 RBI, ten home runs, 17 doubles and a .675 slugging percentage.

Rantz has a 3.60 GPA in Business. He had a .348 on base percentage with nine doubles, three home runs, 16 RBI, and four stolen bases on the season. 

To be nominated, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically and maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average. They must compete in 90 percent of the institution's games/contests played OR must start in at least 66 percent of the institution's games/contests. For baseball and softball pitchers, it is 17 appearances or 25 innings pitched.

The Division II CSC Academic All-America® program is partially supported financially by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the program.
 
Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. Student-athletes selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalists are denoted with an asterisk and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced July 2.  
 
2024 Emporia State Baseball CSC Academic All-District Honors
Cade Barton
Graham Brunner
Dom Oliverio
TJ Racherbaumer
Andrew Rantz