University of Rochester senior right-hander Nolan Sparks was recognized as a First-Team Academic All-American
® by the College Sports Communications (CSC), as announced by the CSC.
Sparks earns his second-straight CSC All-America nod following his third-team honors in 2023, becoming Rochester baseball's first two-time Academic All-American and first first-team selection since Garrett Renslow scored back-to-back first-team honors in 2019-20.
"This is an incredible honor for Nolan and well deserved," Head Coach Joe Reina said. "To be able to compete at the level he does while taking the coursework he takes, I am glad he is recognized properly!"
Sparks capped off a sensational, four-year career with the Yellowjackets with D3Baseball.com Fourth-Team All-America honors, becoming just the fourth All-American in program history. A two-time ABCA and D3baseball.com All-Region and a three-time First-Team All-Liberty League selection, Sparks also repeated as the Liberty League Pitcher of the Year, going 4-2 this season with a 2.25 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 10 starts on the mound.
In 60.0 innings pitched, Sparks struck out 80 batters, which tied him for the second-most in a single season in program history. He only walked 19 and held opponents to a .201 opponent batting average. The senior led the Liberty League in strikeouts and ranked among the top five in ERA, WHIP, opponent batting average, wins, and games started. He finished in the top 50 nationally in ERA (30th), WHIP (47th) and strikeouts (49th) in NCAA Division III.
Sparks was named the Liberty League Pitcher of the Week twice this season and earned D3baseball.com Team of the Week honors once this season. He posted one shutout and a pair of complete games, including his appearance in Rochester's Liberty League Tournament opener against RPI on May 9. He held the Engineers to just one run to help the Yellowjackets move on to the winner's bracket.
A five-time Liberty League Pitcher of the Week for his career, Sparks became Rochester's all-time leader in strikeouts this season with 248, and also graduates ranked second all-time in starts, fourth in wins, seventh in innings pitched, ninth in opponent batting average and 10th in ERA.
Off the field, Sparks is a three-time Liberty League All-Academic selection and a two-time CSC Academic All-District selection, graduating with a 3.92 GPA. The Aurora, Colo. native was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, named a 2023 Lysle 'Spike' Garnish Scholar-Athlete in the fall and received the Simon Scholar Award.
The CSC Academic All-America® Baseball Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes and are voted on by CSC members. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and compete in 90 percent of an institution's games or must start in at least 66 percent of an institution's games. For baseball pitchers, the minimum is 17 appearances or 25 total innings pitched.
The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes baseball and softball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.