May 30, 2003
ACCOLADES
CONTINUE TO COME IN AS NIU PITCHER MARK SKRUKRUD NAMED ACADEMIC
ALL-MAC
CLEVELAND, OH - Last week Northern Illinois University baseball
player Mark Skrukrud was recognized for his efforts on the
mound with a Second-Team All-Mid-American Conference selection.
That excellence extends to the classroom where the senior was selected
as member of the 15-player Academic All-MAC squad as announced by
league commissioner Rick Chryst on Friday (May 30).
"It's an
outstanding award for Mark Skrukrud," NIU head coach Ed
Mathey said. "I've only been here a short time, but Mark
is the type of player that we want to equate with Northern Illinois
baseball. He's a good student, tough competitor, great leader and
just a solid person."
In order to
be eligible for selection, student-athletes had to have a grade
point average of 3.20 or above, been at their institution for one
year and be at least a sophomore. Skrukrud (Rochester, MN / Dover-Eyota)
finished up his career at Northern Illinois with a 3.36 GPA in mechanical
engineering.
A two-time Huskie
Scholar in the NIU Athletics Department's Academic Excellence Program,
the lefty was the ace of the Huskie pitching staff his two years
with the team. This season he posted a 6-4 record with a 4.01 earned
run average while striking out 77 batters. His 101 innings pitched
set an NIU single-season mark.
Named MAC West
Division Pitcher of the Week on May 20, Skrukrud ranks among the
conference leaders in several statistical categories. He tops the
league in innings pitched and games started (14) while rating among
the MAC's best in ERA, strikeouts and complete games (five).
"The success
that we had this year is a directly related to our senior leadership
and Mark was a big component of that," Mathey added. "He
did everything we asked of him this year and did it at a high level."
With Skrukrud
anchoring the staff, the NIU hurlers lowered the team ERA by more
than half a run from last year. The 2003 Huskies posted a school-record
34 wins, including a victory over MAC regular season champion Kent
State in the first round of the conference tournament. Northern
Illinois was undefeated this year against Big Ten Conference schools,
scoring an average of 13 runs in wins over Michigan, Illinois and
Iowa
2003 Academic
All-MAC Baseball Team
Name, School Yr. GPA Major Hometown (High School)
Brady Steineck, Akron Jr. 3.96 Pre-Med Canton, OH (Central Catholic)
Craig Welch, Akron Jr. 3.89 Finance Hartville, OH (Marlington)
James Nowicki, Ball State Jr. 3.97 Pre-Med Highland, MI (Birmingham
Brother Rice)
John Pettibone, Ball State Jr. 3.61 Chemistry Plymouth, IN
Ben Schroeder, Ball State Sr. 3.46 General Studies Davenport, IA
(Assumption)
Marc Franz, Ball State So. 3.43 Business Defiance, OH
Mike Gates, Central Michigan Sr. 3.61 Marketing & Logistics
Flushing, MI
Ryan Krueger, Central Michigan Sr. 3.51 Geology Alpena, MI
Jesse Cogswell, Eastern Michigan Sr. 3.62 Secondary Education/Math
Pickney, MI
Ryan Ford, Eastern Michigan So. 3.52 Social Studies Rochester, MI
(Adams)
Kyle Augsburger, Kent State Sr. 3.21 Finance Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Shaun Peet, Ohio Sr. 3.75 Mgmt. Info Systems & Finance Goderich,
ONT (London Dist. Christian)
Mark Skrukrud, Northern Illinois Sr. 3.36 Mechanical Engineering
Rochester, MN (Dover-Eyota)
Shawn Hurst, Toledo Jr. 3.41 Mechanical Engineering Bryan, OH
Adam Rosales, Western Michigan So. 3.60 Business Park Ridge (Maine
South)
-Copy by
Michael Smoose
-30-
