• 2010 MVC Scholar-Athlete Teams (PDF)

Three members of the University of Evansville baseball team were honored on Thursday for their work both on and off of the diamond, as senior outfielder Alex Acheson, senior pitcher Keegan Dennis and sophomore infielder Trentt Copeland were all named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete first team in a vote of the league’s sports information directors.

Acheson was one of five unanimous selections to the MVC Scholar-Athlete first team, as he also earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V first team honors for his work both on the field and in the classroom earlier this spring.  On the field, Acheson earned honorable mention all-MVC honors as a senior, while hitting .321 with 15 doubles, a triple, a home run, 26 RBI and 54 runs scored.  He also finished his senior season ranked second in the league by being hit by a single-season UE record 23 pitches this spring, as he owned a .424 on-base percentage.  In the classroom, Acheson owns a 3.49 cumulative grade point average in accounting at UE.

Dennis, meanwhile, sports a 3.29 cumulative grade point average in writing at UE, while also serving as the Purple Aces’ top weekend starting pitcher.  Dennis finished the season ranked among the MVC’s leaders in ERA (9th-4.10), opposing batting average (6th-.249), innings pitched (8th-83.1), strikeouts (5th-76) and strikeouts looking (2nd-33), while going 4-3 overall in 16 appearances, including 13 starts.  In his 13 starts, the Purple Aces went 9-4 overall, with the four losses coming by a combined six total runs.

Just a sophomore this past season, Copeland owns UE’s best grade point average of the three men honored, as he carries a 3.71 GPA in marketing at Evansville.  Copeland served as UE’s starting second baseman this spring and he ranked among the Valley’s leaders in hits (8th-77), doubles (3rd-20), stolen bases (9th-19) and defensive assists (8th-155).  He helped anchor UE’s defense which ranked fourth nationally in double-plays turned with a school-record 69, and he also ranked among the MVC’s leaders with 24 multi-hit games this spring.

Acheson, Dennis and Copeland become the 32nd, 33rd, and 34th UE players to earn first team MVC Scholar-Athlete honors since Evansville joined the Valley in 1994-95.

2010 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Teams

First Team                   
T.J. Roemmich, Creighton           
Alex Acheson, Evansville           
Trentt Copeland, Evansville
Keegan Dennis, Evansville
Ryan Court, Illinois State
Kyle Burnam, Indiana State
Ben Ferrell, Indiana State
Luke Fieser, Indiana State
Nathan Forer, Southern Illinois
Bret Bascue, Wichita State
Logan Hoch, Wichita State
Jordan Cooper, Wichita State
Cody Lassley, Wichita State

Honorable Mention
Mike Kickham, Missouri State
Kevin Hall, Wichita State