Notre Dame Baseball's Mike Naumann, Brian Stavisky Named Academic All-America

June 12, 2001

Two Notre Dame baseball players have been named to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-America Baseball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Senior lefthander Mike Naumann (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic HS) was one of 11 players named to first team while sophomore rightfielder Brian Stavisky (Port Allegany, PA/Port Allegany HS) was a third-team selection.

Naumann-a valuable member of the Irish pitching staff throughout his four-year career-graduated with a 3.90 cumulative grade-point average as a pre-professional science major and is headed to medical school at Baylor University.

Stavisky-who owns a 3.56 GPA as a business major-turned in a solid season in 2001 as Notre Dame’s cleanup hitter, with a .386 batting average and team-leading totals in RBI (66) and home runs (10).

Notre Dame was one of six Division I baseball programs to produce multiple 2001 Academic All-Americans, with the following schools also producing two: Penn State, St. Joseph’s, Nebraska, Gonzaga and East Carolina. Of the above six teams, only three-Notre Dame, Nebraska and East Carolina-participated in the 2001 NCAA Tournament while Notre Dame and St. Joseph’s are the only schools with multiple baseball Academic All-Americans in each of the past two years.

Four Notre Dame baseball players-the most from any school-were listed on the 87-player Academic All-America ballot, after earning a spot on the Academic All-District V. team. Junior third baseman Andrew Bushey (Boardman, Ohio) and sophomore righthander Matt Laird (Bellaire, Texas) joined Naumann and Stavisky on the Academic All-District team. Bushey (3.33, finance major) hit .335 in 2001 with 36 RBI, 17 doubles and just 13 errors at the hot corner while Laird (3.45, business) posted a 5-1 record, four saves and a 3.09 ERA as the Irish closer (with a .209 opponent batting average).

Notre Dame baseball players have combined for 17 Academic All-America awards (since 1977), including a pair of two-time honorees in outfielders John Loughran (’86, ’87) and Dan Peltier (’87, ’88). Naumann is Notre Dame’s third repeat selection-after earning third-team honors as a junior in 2000, when Irish second baseman Jeff Perconte was named to the first team.

Naumann is the eighth Irish baseball player (and first pitcher) to receive first-team Academic All-America honors, with the others including catcher Tim Pollock (’77), infielder Dave Bartish (’80), third baseman James Dee (’84), Loughran (’86), first baseman Joe Binkiewicz (’92), infielder Cory Mee (’92) and Perconte (’00).

Naumann-who posted eight Dean’s List semesters, including three 4.0 terms-was one of four 2001 recipients of Notre Dame’s prestigious Byron Kanaley Award, recognizing student-athletes who are exemplary as leaders and students. He helped Notre Dame rank fifth in the nation during 2001 for team ERA (3.22), with his season stats including a 3-1 record in 16 appearances (three starts), plus a 3.02 ERA and just seven walks in 41.2 innings pitched. Naumann posted a 10-2 career record, with his 2001 highlights including wins over Miami of Ohio (5 IP, 0 R, 4 H) and Dayton (6 IP, 1 R, 5 H) and a solid relief outing in the NCAAs vs. Florida International (4 IP, R, 3 H, BB, K).

Stavisky-a 33rd-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in the 2001 Major League draft-hit five of his 10 home runs during the final seven games of the 2001 season. In addition to his team-best RBI (66) and home run totals, Stavisky’s 2001 season included a .386 batting average (second on the team) and team-best totals in walks (31, with just 24 strikeouts), slugging percentage (.657) and on-base-pct. (.467), plus 19 doubles and nine stolen bases.

Naumann is one of nine repeat selections from the 2000 Academic All-America teams, a group which includes five other members of the 2001 first team: P Jon Smith (Cal State Fullerton), C Casey Myers (Arizona State), IF Kevin Kirkby (St. Joseph’s), OF Jared Hertz (Gonzaga) and DH Jim Reilly (St. Joseph’s). Other repeat selections included Northwestern C Joe Hietpas (2nd team), Creighton OF Dan Lawler (2nd team) and Davidson P Wes Self (3rd team).

Myers was named the 2001 Academic All-American of the Year.

2001 VERIZON ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA BASEBALL TEAMS – UNIVERSITY DIVISION

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

Note: Naumann and Stavisky’s GPAs are updated to include the 2001 spring semester (others are as of the 2000 fall).