BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University has been named a recipient of the 2023-24 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Academic Excellence Award. The honor is high praise for a team that also set the standard on the diamond as Lamar won 44 games on their way to a Southland Conference regular-season title.
 
To be nominated for the ABCA Academic Excellence Award, team's had to post at least a 3.0 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale) during the academic year. The award covers NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, junior college and high school baseball. Lamar was one of 800 schools among all levels to receive the honor.
 
Lamar is one of only three Southland Conference schools, and one of just six NCAA Division I schools in the state of Texas named to team.
 
The 2024 season will go down as one of the best in the history of the program. LU ranked among the nation's leaders in wins, locked up their first conference title since the 2004 season, rattled of a 13-game win streak which was the longest in the nation at the time, after having the streak snapped the Cardinals then went on the road to sweep No. 25 Oklahoma in Norman and entered the postseason leading the nation in earned run average and WHIP.