WINONA, Minn. — For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Saint Mary's University baseball team was rewarded for its efforts in the classroom.


Saint Mary's was among those programs from across the country to earn the 2021-22 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award, it was announced Wednesday.
 
Teams from every level of college and high school baseball were honored with this year's award, which highlights programs coached by ABCA members that posted a team GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale for the entire 2021-22 academic year.

Nearly 700 member college and high school programs from across the country submitted nominations and received this year's award. In total, over 250 high school teams, along with more than 420 programs from the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, and Junior College levels, were recognized.
 
Coaches nominated their teams for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award following the conclusion of their spring semesters. To be honored, teams had to meet the following criteria:

• Must be a high school or college team
• Head coach must be a current ABCA member
• Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2020-21 academic year.

 
The Cardinals closed out the 2021-22 academic school year with a cumulative 3.30 grade-point-average.
 
The ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award is just the latest for the Cardinals, who had 11 players — Seth Gonring (Madison, Wis.), Lucas Henderson (Farmington, Minn.), Brett Lettner (Trempealeau, Wis.), Keegan Majerus (Pine Island, Minn.), Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.), Mason Palmer (Holmen, Wis.), Timmy Smith (South St. Paul, Minn.), Derek Sonmore (Blaine, Minn.), Zach Streit (Lino Lakes, Minn.), Bob Tilot (Pulaski, Minn.), and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) — named Academic All-MIAC in late June.