Five Huskers Earn Academic All-Big 12 Honors

Lincoln ? Five University of Nebraska baseball players were among the 45 Big 12 players named to the academic All-Big 12 team announced Wednesday.

The list includes four first-team selections in seniors Brandon Buckman and Dustin Timm, sophomore Bryce Nimmo and redshirt freshman Nick Sullivan, while sophomore Luke Wertz was a second-team honoree.

Timm, who is pursuing his master’s in leadership education, earned his third selection to the academic All-Big 12 team this spring. He carries a 3.73 GPA. A four-year letterwinner, Timm is 7-5 with a 3.36 ERA in 51 career appearances at NU, but has been sidelined this season because of injuries.

Buckman earned academic All-Big 12 honors for the first time in his career after posting a 3.48 GPA in civil engineering. A three-time Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll member, he was selected as a first-team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VII selection last week. Buckman is hitting .335 with 14 homers and 48 RBIs, ranking among Big 12 leaders in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage.

Nimmo also collected his first academic All-Big 12 honor. He carries a 3.43 in business administration. A fellow first-team academic All-District VII pick and three-time Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection, he is hitting .278 with three homers, 21 RBIs and a team-best 16 stolen bases, ranking sixth in the Big 12 in steals.

Sullivan made his first appearance on the team. The redshirt freshman from Arvada, Colo., owns a 3.93 GPA in business administration and is a three-time Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor roll pick. He has appeared in 30 games, hitting .339 with a homer and nine RBIs.

Wertz rounds out NU’s academic All-Big 12 honorees. The sophomore right-hander carries a 3.19 GPA in business administration. The Parker, Colo., native has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll all three semesters at NU and has a 1-0 record with a 3.21 ERA in 11 appearances this spring.

Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and the media relations offices, the academic all-league baseball squad consisted of 33 first-team members combined with 12 on the second team. First-team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters. All players nominated must have participated in 60 percent of their team's scheduled contests, while pitchers are required to have at least one inning pitched per game played by the team or have appeared in 20 percent of their team's total games. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.