May 18, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UAB senior pitcher James Oliver and sophomore second baseman Nick Crawford have been named to the 2009 Conference USA All-Academic Team, as voted on by the league's sports information directors and announced Monday.
The all-academic team for baseball consists of student-athletes who have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average or better and are a starter or key reserve for their team. UAB and East Carolina were the only teams in the league to have two players receive the honor. Oliver is a two-time member of the all-academic team and recently graduated with 3.85 overall GPA in biology. He has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA in his three years at UAB since transferring from Birmingham-Southern.
Oliver earned Presidential Honors in each of his semesters at UAB and, earlier this season, was named as one of 30 nationwide candidates for the Lowe's Senior Class Award. He is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Society, the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society and the National Student-Athlete Honor Society.
On the field, Oliver has pitched in 15 games this season with nine starts on the mound. The Vestavia Hills, Ala., native has logged 46.0 innings and owns a record of 2-3. He has held opponents to a batting average of .269 and ranks in the top 10 in C-USA with three pickoffs.
Crawford is a finance major who owns a 3.22 cumulative GPA. He is a two-time member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and a 2008 recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal.
In his sophomore season, Crawford is hitting .294 with 11 doubles and 35 RBI. The Cordova, Tenn., native ranks in the top 10 in the conference with 15 stolen bases and 10 sacrifice bunts. He has committed just three errors all season at second base to post a fielding percentage of .988.
Oliver and Crawford have helped UAB to a 30-24 (11-12 C-USA) record in 2009. The Blazers concluded the regular season Saturday with a come-from-behind 15-12 win over Rice to take two out of three games from the fourth-ranked Owls.
UAB is seeded sixth the 2009 Conference USA Championship and will open the tournament Wednesday at 9 a.m. (CT) against third-seeded Houston at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Each game of the championship will be streamed live on ConferenceUSA.com. The championship game of the tournament on Sunday, May 24 will be televised on a same-day tape delay basis by CBS College Sports at 6:30 p.m. (CT).
2009 C-USA BASEBALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Name - School - Class - GPA - Major
Brandon Henderson - East Carolina - Senior - 3.31 - Construction Management
Drew Schieber - East Carolina - Senior - 3.63 - Exercise Physiology
Blake Kelso - Houston - Sophomore - 3.42 - Economics
Andrew Blain - Marshall - Graduate - 3.66 - Exercise Science - Cardiac Rehabilitation
Brennon Martin - Memphis - Junior - 3.46 - Management
* Jimmy Comerota - Rice - Senior - 3.26 - Economics and Sport Management
* James Ewing - Southern Miss - Senior - 3.73 - Philosophy
Jonathan Garrett - Tulane - Senior - 3.35 - Bio-Medical Engineering
Nick Crawford - UAB - Sophomore - 3.22 - Finance
* James Oliver - UAB - Senior - 3.85 - Biology
* Kiko Vazquez - UCF - Senior - 3.43 - Sports and Fitness Education
*Repeat Selection
