Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT – For the first time since 2013, the Lamar baseball team put at least three student-athletes on the Academic All-Southland Conference team, led by first teamers Will Hibbs and Stijn van der Meer, the league announced Wednesday.
Lamar, who marked a 14-game turnaround from 2015, placed three – including Jake Nash on the second team – which is one less than 2013. Big Red’s two first teamers tied with McNeese for the second-most this season, only behind Southeastern Louisiana.
Will Hibbs, who was selected in the 19th round of Saturday’s Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, was an automatic bid to the first team as a first-team All-Southland Conference performer and a 3.73 grade point average in management.
The honor is the latest in a long list of academic accomplishments for Hibbs, who was recently awarded to the league’s prestigious McDonald Award, given to the Southland’s top academic graduate. He was also the SLC Student-Advisory Committee President and was a national representative for the committee.
Van der Meer, a 34th-round selection in the draft by the nearby Houston Astros, finished his career with a 3.12 GPA in exercise science. He came very close to claiming a spot on LU’s top season batting average list, but was able to etch his name in the career list. He ended his time with a .363 batting average over a two-year span, which is third all-time at LU.
Nash earned a 3.00 GPA in exercise science, and was voted to the second team after a third-team placing on the All-Southland Conference team. The senior from Palestine was a definite utility guy, who played as a first, second and third baseman as well as an outfield.
He finished the season fourth on the team with a .307 batting average and a team-best 46 runs scored along with 41 RBI. He, along with newcomer Reid Russell, are the first 40-40 (runs, RBI) since Darian Johnson and Sam Bumpers did in 2013.