May 24, 2011
TOWSON, Md. - Baylor senior outfielder Chris Slater has been named a first-team Capital One Academic All-American, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Tuesday. Slater, a second-team honoree in 2010, joins Jason Jennings and Jon Topolski as the only two-time Academic All-Americans in program history.
This marks the first time Baylor has had student-athletes earn Academic All-America honors in three consecutive seasons. Aaron Miller was a second-team honoree in 2009.
Slater becomes the sixth Bear to be named to the first team and the only player in program history to pick up first and second team honors. He is one of six players in the nation to be named an Academic All-American in the university division in each of the last two seasons.
He joins pitcher Pat Combs (1988 first team), first baseman Charley Carter (1998 first team), pitcher Jason Jennings (1998 third team; 1999 first team), outfielder Jon Topolski (1998 second team; 1999 second team), first baseman Ross Bennett (2003 first team), catcher Zach Dillon (2006 first team) and outfielder Aaron Miller (2009 second team) on Baylor's list of baseball Academic All-Americans.
Slater is one of four Big 12 student-athletes on this season's Academic All-America teams. Nebraska's Casey Hauptman was named to the second team, while Kansas State's Jason King and Texas A&M's Ross Stripling were third-team honorees.
A native of Plano, Texas, Slater graduated with a degree in finance and a 3.98 cumulative GPA on May 14, the same day he hit a home run in Baylor's win at No. 19 Oklahoma State.
Slater has appeared in 48 games and made 32 starts across all three outfield positions in 2011. He's hitting .279 (38-for-136) with a team-leading 12 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 21 RBI and 23 runs scored. Slater has also had a pair of walk-off hits this season and was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on March 14.
Baylor returns to action this week at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championships, hosted at Oklahoma City's Bricktown Ballpark. The fifth-seeded Bears open double-elimination tournament play at 9 a.m. Wednesday against Oklahoma State.
BAYLOR ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS
Pat Combs, 1st team (1988)
Charley Carter, 1st team (1998)
Jon Topolski, 2nd team (1998)
Jason Jennings, 3rd team (1998)
Jason Jennings, 1st team (1999)
Jon Topolski, 2nd team (1999)
Ross Bennett, 1st team (2003)
Zach Dillon, 1st team (2006)
Aaron Miller, 2nd team (2009)
Chris Slater, 2nd team (2010)
Chris Slater, 1st team (2011)
