EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger (St. Louis, Mo./Priory) earned one of the nation’s top baseball honors on Friday, as he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Third-Team All-America squad in a vote of collegiate head coaches. He is the first Purple Ace to be named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-America squad since outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski led the nation in hitting in 2015.
Shallenberger earned All-America honors after a season in which he earned first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors and Greenville (N.C.) Regional All-Tournament team honors for the Purple Aces. He currently ranks in the NCAA’s Top 100 in 11 different offensive categories, including ranking 13th nationally in on-base percentage, a category he has ranked among the nation’s top 25 in for much of the season. Shallenberger set program records for both runs scored (72) and hit-by-pitches (28), while posting the second-highest single-season hit total in UE history with 91.
Overall, Shallenberger hit a team-best .374 with a team-high 21 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs and 64 RBI. He hit arguably the biggest home run in UE baseball history with a game-winning three-run home run in UE’s 6-5 victory over East Carolina to win the Greenville (N.C.) Regional and advance Evansville to its first-ever NCAA Tournament Super Regional appearance.
Shallenberger now joins an elite fraternity of UE players to earn ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors, as he is just the ninth Purple Ace to earn the award. The previous eight UE players to earn ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors includes Andy Benes (1988), John MacCauley (1991), Marty Watson (1993), Jamey Carroll (1996), Steve Obenchain (2002), Cody Fick (2011), Kyle Freeland (2014), and Kevin Kaczmarski (2015).
Evansville went 39-26 this season, advancing on to the 2024 NCAA Tournament by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title. The Purple Aces won the Greenville (N.C.) Regional Tournament and forced #1 national seed Tennessee to the “if necessary” game three of the Knoxville Super Regional in UE’s first-ever NCAA Super Regional Tournament appearance.
