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RHIT Places Two Players on ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Baseball Team
Release courtesy of Rose-Hulman
TERRE HAUTE, IN - Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology seniors Kirk Thompson (Harrisburg, Ill.) and Chandler Kent (Antioch, Ill.) have earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American honors, in results released today by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Thompson captured second-team College Division honors at the designated hitter position, while Kent was named to the third-team squad as an infielder. Only three designated hitters and 12 infielders are named College Division Academic All-Americans out of more than 800 schools in the NCAA Division II, III, NAIA and junior college ranks.
Thompson and Bilse become the 84th and 85th Academic All-Americans in Rose-Hulman athletics history. At least one Rose-Hulman student-athlete has earned Academic All-American honors for the last 25 years, the sixth longest streak among all NCAA Division I, II or III institutions.
Thompson and Kent also earned the 15th and 16th Academic All-American awards in the history of Rose-Hulman baseball. Only Rose-Hulman, Thomas More and Valdosta State placed more than one player on the 2010 College Division Academic All-America Team.
Thompson started 37 games at designated hitter this spring and batted .387 with 48 hits, seven doubles and two home runs. His efforts included hits in 12 of 14 games to open the season and a four-hit, five RBI performance in the HCAC Tournament title game.
In his career, Thompson slapped 98 hits with 20 doubles and four home runs. In the classroom, the applied biology major carries a 3.83 grade point average.
Kent holds Rose-Hulman school records for games played (172) and at bats (663), while ranking second all-time in hits (225) and runs scored (162). His top marks also include standing third all-time and first among Fightin' Engineer third basemen with 374 career fielding assists.
Kent was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association Mideast Region Gold Glove Team in 2009 and was named first-team ESPN The Magazine academic all-district in 2009 and 2010. This season, Kent batted .350 with 63 hits, 49 runs scored and 37 RBIs. In the classroom, Kent has compiled a 3.83 grade point average in computer science.
Kent and Thompson were part of a Rose-Hulman squad that finished 30-14 this season and won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament to earn the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. The Fightin' Engineers reached the NCAA Tournament in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and the two seniors were part of a squad that finished 115-61 during their four-year careers.
