Utah Baseball Receives ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah baseball program was honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association on Wednesday with the Team Academic Excellence Award. The honor goes to programs with a team cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher during the preceding school year.
 
The Utes tallied a 3.20 GPA during 2021-22 and were one of four programs in the Pac-12 to receive the award – alongside Cal, Oregon State and Stanford.
 
It adds to the list of postseason awards for Utah, most recently on the heels of Alex Baeza's ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove nod at first base. Baeza was additionally named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team, while catcher Davis Cop and second baseman Landon Frei were placed on the Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention team.
 
Utah displayed signs of a promising future in 2022, the first year at the helm for head coach Gary Henderson. The ballclub began the year with its best start since at least 1981, later resetting its Pac-12 era program records in runs per game (6.1), hits (524), doubles (112), home runs (41), total bases (795), walks (230) and on-base percentage (.381). It also went on the books as the program's top fielding percentage (.973) in that same span. Frei's .330 batting average and 69 hits were both team-bests and ranked second among Pac-12 rookies during the regular season. On the mound, freshmen Cam Day and Jaden Harris accounted for 18 starts during Pac-12 Conference play, the highest freshmen total in the league.
 
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