Baseball Award Winners 5/21/02

As the 2002 campaign came to a close several Commodores earned athletic and academic honors. Below is a complete look.

Senior Weekend Awards
The Kentucky series marked the final home games for nine Commodore seniors last weekend. Each was honored prior to the start of the series finale on Sunday. Two seniors were singled out for their outstanding contributions to the team.

* First baseman Sean Luellwitz was named the 2002 Jeff Peeples Most Valuable Player by his teammates. He also won the award last season in its inaugural year. He finshed the year leading the squad in seven offensive categories, including batting average (.370), hits (77), doubles (16), home runs (12), RBI (51), total bases (131) and slugging percentage (.630). He also won the award in 2001.

* Senior second baseman/catcher Scott Vanderhoff earned the inaugural Team Spirit Award which salutes a Commodore who has places the needs of the team ahead of any personal goals. Vanderhoff was called upon the become an emergency catcher this year when Jonathan Douillard went down with injuries. Vanderhoff willingly gave up his accustomed role as VU second baseman and took up a position in which he had no collegiate experience.

Record 16 Players Named to SEC Academic Honor Roll
A league-high and team-record 16 Vanderbilt Commodores were selected to the Southeastern Conference Baseball Academic Honor Roll announced today by the league office.

The award is based on grades from the 2000-2001 academic calendar.

Current players earning accolades include Jeff Little (Molecular Biology), Chris Maultsby (Human and Organizational Development), John Kaye (History), Sean Luellwitz (Human and Organizational Development), Karl Nonemaker (Human and Organizational Development), John Prothro (Communication Studies), Jay Smith (Economics) and Scott Vanderhoff (Human and Organizational Development).

Former players receiving recognition include Rob Bedwell (Human and Organizational Development), Adam Blue (Human and Organizational Development), Taylor Childress (Human and Organizational Development), Kenneth Dyer (Economics), Ulises Cabrera (Human and Organizational Development), Kyle Flubacker (Human and Organizational Development), Kevin Geshke (Mathematics) and Brooks Rutledge (Art History).

Twelve Commodores have garnered the award multiple times. Kevin Geshke is a four-time award winner. Flubacker, Little, Luellwitz, Nonemaker and Vanderhoff are three-time honorees. Bedwell, Cabrera, Dyer, Prothro, Rutledge and Smith are two-time honorees.

The previous record for Commodores named to the list was 12 set last season.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must 1) have a 3.0 grade point average for either the past year (two semesters or three quarters) or for his career; 2) be a sophomore or higher in academic classification; and 3) have 24 semesters or 26 quarter hours countable toward the degree.

Little Named A Finalist For Prestigious SEC Academic Award
Vanderbilt Commodore senior right-hander Jeff Little has been named one of 12 male finalist for the SEC's H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. The award honors those who excel on the playing field and in the classroom.

For being selected as a finalist, Little will receive a $5,000 scholarship for post-graduate studies.

The winner of the award and a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship will be announced at the SEC Spring Meetings in June.

Little and Luellwitz Earn More Academic Accolades
Vanderbilt's Jeff Little and Sean Luellwitz were named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District IV University Division Baseball Team announced Thursday by the College of Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Little and Luellwitz garnered recognition as second-team selections. Little, a senior right-hander on the Commodore baseball team, is majoring in molecular biology. He entered the year as a two-time honoree on the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll. Luellwitz, a senior first baseman, earned first-team District IV academic honors a year ago. He is majoring in Human and Organizational Development and twice has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. The 2002 SEC Academic Honor Roll will be released on May 20.

Both Little and Luellwitz graduated cum laude in ceremonies at Vanderbilt on Friday.

The district team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. To be nominated, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher. Team members are selected by a vote of members of CoSIDA.

The Verizon Academic All-District Team is part of the Verizon Academic All-America program. First team selections will appear on the national ballot for the Verizon Academic All-America Baseball Team.