COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – MSU Denver first baseman
Jake Williams has been named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Academic Player of the Year in baseball.
Meanwhile, pitcher
Zane Covey has joined Williams on the Academic All-RMAC first team.
And five other Roadrunners – pitchers
Gabe Austin,
Brad Helton,
Kai Inouye and
Adrian Rodriguez, as well as infielder
Gavin Schmeh – have been named to the Academic All-RMAC honor roll.
The Academic All-RMAC first team is voted on by league sports information directors. To be eligible, players must have a minimum grade point average of 3.50, must have completed at least two consecutive semesters at their current institution and must have used a season of competition.
Williams is a 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America first team selection who also earned 2023 All-America second team (ABCA, NCBWA) and third team (D2CCA) honors. He was a 2023 All-South Central Region first team choice by all three organizations, and he has been All-RMAC first team (2023) and second team (2021, 2024) in his career. He was also on the 2023 Academic All-RMAC first team.
Williams broke the program's 32-year-old career home run record (though he's now second, with 48, after being passed by teammate
Zach Schuler) this season while batting .348 with 12 homers and 53 RBIs. On the career charts in program history, he ranks second in slugging percentage (.744), fourth in RBIs (185), fourth in total bases (387), eighth in on-base percentage (.482), ninth in runs (165) and 12th in hits (197), and he was a career .379 hitter. In career rankings among active Division II players, Williams is seventh in slugging, 10th in homers, and 16th in RBIs. A two-time D2ADA Academic Achievement Award winner, he had a 3.96 undergraduate GPA while majoring in sport management and has a 4.0 while pursuing his master's in business administration.
He's MSU Denver's third RMAC Academic Player of the Year in baseball, joining David Kaplan (2011) and Logan Soole (2021).
Covey was the 2024 RMAC Summit Award winner, which goes to a key team member with the highest GPA at the six-team RMAC Tournament. The high-leverage submarining left-handed reliever appeared in 18 games out of the Roadrunners' bullpen, compiling a record of 2-3 with one save and an 8.35 ERA in 18 ⅓ innings, striking out 15. He has a 4.0 GPA while majoring in business administration.
