Duo of Trojans Collect CSC Academic All-American Awards
AUSTIN, Texas – The College Sports Communicators (CSC), formerly CoSIDA, named its Academic All-Americans for all three levels of the NCAA and the NAIA recently, with Kade Vander Molen and Kaleb Kolpien representing the Trojans.
The prestigious list of First and Second-Team NAIA Baseball All-Americans included only 24 student-athletes from around the nation, with Vander Molen and Kolpien making Taylor just one-of-four schools in the NAIA to claim more than one award.
Both Vander Molen and Kolpien were named CSC Second-Team NAIA All-Americans, which marks the second-straight season two baseball players have earned the honor for Taylor.
A native of Pella, Iowa, Vander Molen has maintained a sharp 3.79 grade-point average while traversing an exercise science course load. Meanwhile, on the field, Vander Molen has posted a plethora of career-bests in 2023, including a .292 batting average, 59 hits, 13 doubles, 13 home runs, and 59 RBI. His career year earned the senior First-Team All-Crossroads League honors for the first time while collecting his second all-CL Gold Glove award. Vander Molen will collect his third Academic All-CL and third NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades later this summer, showcasing his astounding effort in the classroom as well as on the diamond.
Sophomore Kolpien earned First-Team All-Crossroads League honors in light of his league-leading 98 hits, which is the new TU single-season program record. The 98 hits landed him sixth in the NAIA, while his .424 batting average was good for 22nd in the NAIA, both of which led the CL. Though, it was a 3.69 grade-point average within a management major that earned Kolpien his first-career CSC Academic All-American award.
Taylor student-athletes have now combined for 124 CSC Academic All-American honors in school history, with 122 of those awards coming since 2010. Taylor Baseball has accounted for 16 of the school's CSC Academic All-American recipients, with four coming in the past two years.
The CSC Academic All-American distinction is designed to recognize student-athletes for outstanding achievements, both in the classroom and on the field. To receive the honor, an athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 or higher on a 4.0 scale, must have achieved sophomore status academically with at least one full year at their current institution, and must have participated in over half of the team's competitions as a key contributor during the current season.
Student-athletes are nominated for the award by their institution's Sports Information Department and voted on by members of CSC.