MSU Claims Top Individual, Team Academic Honors At CWS
MSU freshman shortstop Jet Butler of Pensacola, Fla., was recognized for having the highest cumulative grade point average (4.0) among the 200 student-athletes representing the eight teams in the CWS, which opens Friday in Omaha. Butler is one of seven Diamond Dogs who registered perfect 4.0 GPA’s during the just-concluded spring semester.
The Bulldog team was also cited for its academic prowess. State’s 3.16 team grade point average ranked as the highest among this year’s CWS field.
The hour-long CWS opening ceremonies, which drew nearly 20,000 enthusiastic baseball fans to Rosenblatt Stadium, featured a dramatic performance by the U.S. Navy Seals’ sky diving team and a salute to the Bluffton (Ohio) University baseball team that lost five members of its team in a tragic season-opening bus accident in Atlanta, Ga., this spring. MSU Director of Athletics Larry Templeton, chairman of the NCAA Baseball Committee, delivered a tribute to the Bluffton team.
The evening’s activities closed with a rousing fireworks display the illuminated the sky over Omaha.
The 61st NCAA College World Series begins Friday at Rosenblatt Stadium, with No. 2 seed Rice taking on first-time CWS entrant Louisville at 1 p.m. (CDT) and Mississippi State testing No. 3 seed North Carolina at 6 p.m. (CDT). ESPN2 will televise both games.