Panther infielder pulls off rare academic feat

ORANGE, Calif. - Tyler Hadzinsky already has 16 doubles this season for the Chapman University baseball team, but his most recent "two-bagger" may be the most special. The Panther sophomore second baseman has been named to the 2009 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VIII baseball team just months after earning the same award as a goalkeeper for Chapman's men's soccer last fall.

He is just the second Chapman student-athlete in the past 15 years - and the first male - to receive the honor in multiple sports in the same academic year. The first was Kelly Crampton (cross country/basketball) in 2002-03. The Academic All-District team is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Hadzinsky was also just named Most Outstanding Player at last weekend's regional championship tournament, which the Panthers won for the fifth consecutive year. All he's done this season for the West Region champs is rank third on the team in batting (.368), slugging (.571) and on-base percentage (.432) and leads the team in triples (4) and sacrifices (11), while starting all 45 games at second base..

He's currently carrying a 3.9 grade-point average as a business major. Hadzinsky will now be put on a ballot for Academic All-America selection.

The sophomore also helped the Chapman soccer team to a school-record 0.59 goals-against average and 12-4-2 record overall. He made 49 saves with four shutouts and has a 0.62 goals-against average - the lowest mark for a Chapman goalkeeper since 1983.

The ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, a 2,000 member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, student-athletes must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

Chapman is a member of the District VIII College Division, which includes Division II, III and NAIA schools from throughout the Western United States.