Three Hurricanes Earn All-ACC Academic Recognition

June 26, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Three University of Miami baseball student-athletes were named to 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic Team, as announced by the conference offices on Tuesday.

Junior reliever E.J. Encinosa, veteran southpaw Eric Erickson and sophomore standout AJ Salcines were among the conference honorees on Tuesday. To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.

Encinosa, a two-time All-Academic honoree majoring in management, was one of only twenty-one student-athletes named to the squad on at least one previous occasion. After leading the Hurricanes in saves as one of the team’s key relievers, Encinosa signed a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants as an eighth-round selection in Major League Baseball’s 2012 First-Year Player Draft.

Erickson, the only player on the 2012 roster to compete in the College World Series, ended one of the most brilliant pitching careers in Miami baseball history as a Second-Team All-ACC honoree. The Sarasota, Fla. native, who led the Hurricane staff in wins after returning from his second Tommy John surgery, entered 2012 as a graduate student in liberal arts and left as a newly-minted New York Yankee prospect after the final day of the MLB Draft.

Salcines, voted Team MVP during the Hurricanes’ awards presentation late in the season, served as the team’s most reliable reliever in his second season on staff. The Miami, Fla. native, who led the team in ERA and ranked second in saves after being shifted into the closer role, is majoring in Biology.

For the complete release from the Atlantic Coast Conference, click HERE.