Baseball/Softball: Thurman, Girouard, Hayden honored for academics

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, May 8, 2015

 

UL junior catcher Nick Thurman and senior designated Tyler Girouard were selected Thursday to the 11-man, nine-state 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-District 6 baseball team, and UL sophomore second baseman Haley Hayden was one of 12 players named Thursday to the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-District 6 softball team.

Girouard posted a 4.00 grade point average in his first semester of graduate school working toward a master’s degree in business administration.

The Teurlings High product ranks second on the team and sixth in the Sun Belt in hitting with a .342 average. He has 14 doubles, three home runs, 20 RBIs and 31 runs scored, and his 14 doubles rank sixth in the league.

Thurman, from Belle Chasse, has a 3.56 cumulative GPA with a focus in management.

He is batting .302 with nine doubles, three triples, a home run and 32 RBIs. Thurman also has thrown out 18 runners this year and has started all but six games.

Hayden, who hit .380 in the regular season, is an exercise science major with a 3.83 cumulative GPA.

She entered first game in this week’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament ranked fourth nationally in runs per game and reached base safely in 42 of the Cajuns’ first 45 games.

The College Sports Information Directors of America selected both teams.

“A lot of (award lists) only focus on a player’s athletic ability,” UL baseball coach Tony Robichaux said in a statement. “What I really like about this award is that you are not only judged on your athletic ability, but you have to get there based on your academic ability.

“I think that’s what it should always be about. We always tell our guys not to let their athletic mission undermine their academic mission.”

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot. First-, second- and third-team All-Americas will be picked later this month and in early June.

District 6 for both baseball and softball is comprised of programs from Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.