KALAMAZOO, Mich. – For the second consecutive year, five members of the Western Michigan baseball team have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team®. Redshirt junior outfielder
Dylan Nevar and senior first baseman
Cade Sullivan both earned the honor for the second consecutive year, while senior catcher
Greg Budig, redshirt junior right-hander
Luke Thelen and senior right-hander
Nolan Vlcek were first-time honorees.
An Electrical Engineering major with a 3.91 GPA, Nevar had an outstanding season for the Broncos, leading the conference with a WMU single-season record 71 RBIs on the way to a Second Team All-MAC selection. Five of those RBIs came in the MAC Tournament to net the Wisconsin Dells, Wis., native the Tournament MVP award. In addition to leading the conference in RBIs, Nevar ranked inside the top-10 in a litany of other categories, including batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS, runs scored, hits, home runs and triples. He concluded the season ranked second in program history in career home runs and third in career RBIs.
Coming off of back-to-back Second Team All-MAC selections, Sullivan elevated his game this spring and hit .387 to become the first Bronco since Scott Conant in 1991 to win the MAC batting title. An All-MAC First Team and All-Defensive Team selection this spring, Sullivan led the league in runs with 67 and tied for the top spot in hits with 86, both of which were new single-season program records. In the second game of the season against Michigan, the Naperville, Ill., native broke the all-time home run record with an extra-inning blast which proved to be the game-winner. A Finance major with a 3.53 GPA, Sullivan graduated from WMU this spring and closed out his career as the program's all-time home runs leader and second all-time in both career runs scored and career RBIs.
After graduating from Western Michigan with a perfect 4.00 GPA and a degree in Entrepreneurship in April of 2023, Budig now owns a 3.94 GPA as a graduate student pursuing an MBA at WMU. A native of Plainfield, Ill., Budig set career highs in numerous offensive categories this spring, including batting average, hits, runs scored, home runs, RBIs and walks. He was one of the top defensive catchers in the MAC this season, finishing second in the league with 15 runners caught stealing.
Another Bronco who boasted a 4.00 GPA during his undergraduate studies, Thelen received his bachelor's degree in Accountancy back in December, and started off his pursuit of a master's degree with a 4.00 this spring. On the diamond, the Caledonia, Mich., native turned into one of Western Michigan's top bullpen arms, posting a 3.53 ERA with a pair of saves and racking up 58 strikeouts in 43.1 innings (12.0 K/9). In conference play, he boasted a 2.19 ERA and struck out 35 in 24.2 innings (13.1 K/9). Thelen also recorded the final outs as the Broncos secured the 2024 MAC Tournament Championship.
Vlcek graduated from WMU this spring with a 3.85 GPA as a Criminal Justice major. A Second Team All-MAC selection this spring, the Mokena, Ill., native boasted the sixth-best ERA in the conference at 4.64 while working 85.1 innings, tied for second-most in the league. The righty tied for second in the MAC in strikeouts with 91, which tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history. Vlcek was second on the Broncos with five wins, all of which came against MAC foes, and tossed Western Michigan's lone complete game of the season at Ohio.
The 2024 Academic All-District® Baseball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the diamond and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes baseball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
Nevar, Sullivan and Vlcek have been selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalists and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members.
