Frank, Brian Miller Named to Academic All-District Team

For Immediate Release

May 13, 2004

Written by Hugh Howard
330-263-2374
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Jake Frank

Brian Miller

Jake Frank (Wooster, Ohio / Northwestern) and Brian Miller (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland), two key cogs on The College of Wooster’s nationally-ranked baseball team were selected Academic All-District Thursday, as coordinated and sponsored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Frank, a junior third baseman, earned second-team honors for the second-straight year, while Miller’s recognition on the second-team marked the sophomore pitcher’s first postseason accolade.

Wooster’s duo represented two of the four North Coast Athletic Conference players honored on the 24-member squad, which is voted on from NCAA Division II and III institutions and NAIA schools across a five-state district (Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee). To be nominated a player must be of sophomore academic standing, a starter or key reserve, and be maintaining at least a 3.20 GPA.

Frank, a mathematics major with a 3.28 GPA, is currently batting .434 (69-for-159), the same average he finished at last season. Thirty-two of the preseason All-American’s hits have gone for extra bases, including 21 doubles and eight home runs, which translates into a team-high .755 slugging percentage. Frank has also earned 25 walks and been hit by a pitch nine times for a .528 on-base percentage, while totaling 54 runs, 48 RBI, and 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts this spring.

Miller, who owns a 3.36 GPA as a business economics major, has developed into one of the Scots’ front-line starters this year after struggling to an 8.90 ERA in 30.1 innings during his freshman campaign. In 2004, the right-hander is 7-2 with a 3.69 ERA and has totaled 61.0 innings pitched in a team-leading 15 appearances, including eight starts. Miller also paces the Wooster pitching staff in strikeouts with 55, while issuing just nine walks on the season.

Frank, Miller, and the rest of the Scots won the NCAC title last week with a 13-8, 9-8 sweep over then-No. 5 ranked Denison University in the league’s best-of-three championship series. Wooster, ranked 10th in this week’s American Baseball Coaches Association Div. III Top-30 Poll, is now practicing for the NCAA Mideast Regional Tournament, which will start next Thursday (May 20). The NCAA will announce host sites and seedings for its eight regional tournaments Sunday night.