Purdue Baseball's Jackson Smeltz Earns Academic All-District Honors
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Following a strong season on the mound for Purdue baseball, redshirt sophomore pitcher Jackson Smeltz earned recognition with Academic All-District honors on Thursday.
Smeltz posted 22 strikeouts and allowed just 12 hits for the Boilermakers in 13 games this past season. Opposing hitters had a .186 batting average against Smeltz, and he gave up just four extra-base hits in 19 1/3 innings.
He also boasts a 3.62 grade-point average, which is the highest among the team's pitching staff.
The hometown player from Lafayette, Indiana, was one of two pitchers among 11 total players voted to the Academic All-District Team from District Five. The District includes schools from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.
To be eligible for the All-District Ballot, student-athletes are required to maintain a minimum 3.30 GPA and be at least a sophomore academically. Smeltz is the Boilermakers' first Academic All-District selection since Joe Hasse back in 2012.
As a member of the Academic All-District Team, Smeltz advances to a national ballot that will recognize Academic All-Americans.
Smeltz was also recognized as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar on Thursday for earning a GPA higher than 3.7 during the 2020-21 academic year. The two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree was also the recipient of the Brady Comeback Scholarship Award by Methodist Sports Medicine in June.
Should the draft-eligible pitcher return to West Lafayette next year, he is expected to be one of Purdue's top relief pitchers. He was the winning pitcher in all three of the Boilermakers' walk-off victories during the season.
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