AUSTIN, Texas – On Wednesday, CoSIDA announced the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division II baseball teams with senior Jake Anderson and graduate student Matt McDermott of UCCS Baseball earning academic All-American accolades, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Anderson and McDermott become just the second and third student-athletes to receive the distinguished honor in program history as Anderson earns CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team with McDermott earning CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team.

Anderson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) takes home CoSIDA Academic All-America honors after an impressive 2021 season at the plate while posting a 3.52 cumulative grade-point-average as a Criminal Justice major. Anderson finished the season with a .427 batting average with 67 hits, 17 doubles, three triples and 15 home runs along with 49 runs scored and 58 RBI. He had a .860 slugging percentage and a .508 on-base percentage as he went on to reach base safely in 42 of 43 games. Anderson ended the season with 20 games of two-or-more hits while driving in two-or-more RBI in 15 contests. In Anderson's three years as a Mountain Lion, he has become the program's all-time leader in batting average (.394), on base percentage (.465), and walks (58). He also made his way into the record books by setting the single season record for the highest slugging percentage while also tying the program's single game record for RBI after driving in a career high seven RBI to help lift the Mountain Lions past Colorado State University Pueblo 10-8 in the RMAC Tournament on May 20. On top of his academic All-America selection, Anderson reached All-America First Team status among the D2CCA and NCBWA.

McDermott, a three-time All-American shortstop, receives his first career CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition after boasting a 3.58 GPA as an MBA student. The school's all-time leader in games played (211), games started (211), runs (179), hits (249), doubles (58), triples (10), RBI (162), and total bases (399), McDermott started in all 43 games for the Mountain Lions this season as they captured their first ever RMAC Tournament Championship and first NCAA Regional Tournament appearance. McDermott added to his all-time program numbers in 2021 by posting a .378 batting average that included a team high 68 hits, 17 doubles, two triples, and seven home runs. He averaged a stellar 1.58 hits per game and drove in a career high 51 RBI. His team high 59 runs scored tied for the fifth most in the region as he totaled 110 bases and nabbed nine stolen bases. At shortstop, McDermott turned a conference high 33 double plays with a .971 fielding percentage and helped the Mountain Lions average the most double plays per game in the nation at 1.00 per game.

Sixteen of the 33 members of the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division II Baseball teams have at least a 3.80 GPA, with eight student-athletes maintaining a perfect 4.00 GPA. The 12 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.71.
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