Judah Akers Earns Academic All-District Honors

Judah Akers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sophomore Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) was named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team for his performance this season.  The honorees were announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Friday morning.

It marks the first such honor for Akers in his young career, and the first time a Bruin received the accolades since Cody Blackard, Dan Soukup, and Josh Brummett were all named to the first team back in 2004.  Brummett went on to be named First Team Academic All-America, while Soukup earned Third Team Academic All-America honors.

Akers will now be placed on the ballot for the Capital One Academic All-America Team with the rest of the First Team Academic All-District winners.  The Belmont designated hitter is currently batting .347 in Atlantic Sun Conference games with a total of seven doubles, six home runs, and 23 runs batted in to help lead the Bruins to a 26-21 record at this point in the season.

Akers is in the top five on the team in five offensive categories, including both slugging and on base percentage.  The Cookeville, Tenn. native is the only Bruins this season to hit to homers in a single game, recording a pair of solo shots during Belmont's 16-6 win at USC Upstate on April 8, 2011.  Akers can also lay claim to hitting the first BU home run at the brand new E.S. Rose Park, after jacking one over the center field fence in the Bruins first ever game at the new facility.

Belmont has this weekend off and will next host Tennessee Martin on Wednesday, May 11.  It was originally scheduled for a single nine inning game, but the contest has been changed to a doubleheader consisting of two seven inning outings beginning at 4:00 p.m.