GREENWOOD, Ind. – As a testament to their work ethic both on the field and in the classroom, senior infielder Wellington Guzman and junior right-handed pitcher Branden Kunz were both among a list of 11 players named to the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 3 squad on Wednesday.
 
To be nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games at the position listed on the nomination form. No student-athlete is eligible until he has completed one full calendar year at his current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility.
 
Each student-athlete that earned a spot on the all-district squad will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot where first-, second- and third-team All-America® honorees will be selected later this month.
 
Guzman and Kunz are the eighth and ninth student-athletes in the history of the program to pick up academic honors from CoSIDA. Wednesday's announcement marked the first-such honors for the Black & Gold since 2017 when former outfielder Nick Debo was eventually decorated with Academic All-America accolades. They were the only Conference Carolinas baseball players named in Wednesday's announcement.
 
A product of Raleigh, Guzman was a key member of an electric offense for the Black & Gold, and earned his bachelor's degree in information technology from UNCP on Saturday after maintaining a 3.54 cumulative grade point average. Guzman has logged a .272 (47-for-173) batting average this season in 52 games (49 starts), while also amassing 23 extra-base hits (15 HR) and 48 RBI.
 
A key weekend starter for the Black & Gold, Kunz currently holds a 4.00 GPA while pursuing his master's degree in business administration at UNCP. The Wake Forest native, who compiled a 3.96 GPA en route to earning his bachelor's degree in business administration last year, has posted a 9-1 record and a 4.16 ERA in 14 appearances for the Black & Gold in 2022. He has struck out 59 batters in 71-1/3 innings pitched, while holding opponents to a .293 batting clip.
 
The fifth-seeded and 25^th-ranked Braves (38-15) will be back in action again on Thursday when they battle fourth-seeded and 15^th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne (44-11) in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Southeast Regional on the campus of North Greenville University. First pitch is slated for noon at Dillard Field in Tigerville, S.C.