Close Garners Capital One Academic All-District Team Honor
5/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Liberty Flames first baseman/pitcher Alex Close has been selected to the Capital One NCAA Division I Academic All-District 3 baseball team for the second consecutive year, honoring excellence in the classroom and on the baseball diamond.
Close was named to the All-District 3 team last season, before garnering Capital One Academic All-America first-team honors. The first baseman was one of two juniors to make the 2014 team. He became the second player in program history to be named a first-team selection on the top collegiate academic team in the country.
Close, a senior, has been Liberty's offensive leader this season, hitting .352 with 36 RBI and 35 runs scored at the plate in 47 games. He has collected 12 doubles, two triples, three home runs and a .436 on base percentage. The first baseman leads the Flames with 21 multiple-hit games and has reached base in 37 consecutive games.
Selected the 2015 Big South Preseason Player of the Year, Close is among the Big South leaders in batting average (6th), hits (tied 4th), RBI (tied 8th) and on base percentage (6th). In addition, he has 89 total bases to tie him for ninth in the conference.
The Hoover, Ala., native has also pitched this season. He has posted a 1-1 record with a team-leading five saves and a 2.25 ERA over 16 innings. In 14 appearances, Close has struck out 20 and walked seven. His five saves rank him fifth in the Big South.
Close has been named the Big South and ECAC Player of the Week for the week ending March 29 this season.
Close enters the latter portion of his senior season ranked fifth in program history in career home runs (29), sixth in career hits (238) and seventh in career RBI (154).
Off the field, Close is scheduled to graduate on Saturday with an undergraduate degree in business administration: finance and currently maintains a 3.84 GPA. The 2014 Capital One Academic All-American was recently named the recipient of the 2015 Rock Royer/Mac Rivera Award, honoring the top graduating senior student-athlete at Liberty University who best exemplifies the standards and lives of both of these great Christian men.
The senior serves as a representative on Liberty's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is involved in several community outreach programs. He was also named to the 2014 VaSID All-State Academic team.
Close and Liberty, 30-17 overall and 14-4 in the Big South Conference, travel to Conway, S.C. for a three-game conference series at Coastal Carolina, this weekend. The series gets underway at Springs Brooks Stadium, Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
