GTE Academic All-America Baseball Team Announced by CoSida; Jeremy Jackson Of Mississippi State And Eddy Furniss of LSU Named to First Team

STAMFORD, Conn., - - The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced the GTE Academic All-America; Baseball Teams today, and two members of the University Division first team -- Jeremy Jackson of Mississippi State and Eddy Furniss of LSU -- helped their teams to the College World Series. Bryan Welder of Augustana (Ill.), who had a perfect 4.00 Grade Point Average (GPA), earned first team honors in the College Division.

Jackson, a junior pitcher from Meridian, Miss., had a 9-4 record with 76 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings this season, helping his team win the Mideast Regional championship The Bulldogs split their first two games in the College World Series and will play Alabama tonight.

Furniss, a junior from Nacogdoches, Texas, has a 3.66 GPA as a zoology major. He batted .369 with 16 homers, 24 doubles, 73 RBIs and a .664 slugging percentage as the defending national champions won the South I regional title. The Tigers won their first two games in the College World Series and will play again Wednesday.

The GTE Academic All-America Team Members of the Year in each Division maintained perfect 4.00 GPA's. Infielder Andy Matko of Wright State, a senior biology/pre-medicine major from Columbus, Ohio, was the winner in the University Division, and infielder Welder, a senior biology/physical therapy major from Crystal Lake, Ill., was honored for the College Division for the second consecutive year. The award goes to the person who "best represents the qualities of an Academic All-America Team member."

The GTE Academic All-America Teams are selected by a vote of the 1,800-member CoSIDA. To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00. Sports information directors nominate eligible athletes from their schools who are named to district teams prior to being voted upon on the national level. CoSIDA has been selecting Academic All-America teams since 1952.

Three University Division members repeated on the first team -- infielder Travis Young of New Mexico, a senior from Albuquerque, N. Mex. (3.73/biology); outfielder Brey Curtis of South Alabama, a senior from Mobile, Ala. (3.83/political science); and outfielder Brian Schaller of LaSalle, a senior from Furlong, Pa. (3.91/economics/accounting).

Rounding out the first team in the University Division are pitcher L.J. Yankosky of Georgia Tech, a junior from Springfield, Va. (3.60/industrial & systems engineering); catcher Jared Sadlowski of Penn State, a senior from Reading, Pa. (3.77/management); infielder David Eckstein of Florida, a senior from Sanford, Fla. (3.51/political science); outfielder Johnny Hunter of Texas A&M;, a senior from Arlington, Texas (3.77/political science); and designated hitter Dave Lardieri of Wake Forest, a senior from Atlantic Highlands, N.J. (3.24/English).

GTE has been the exclusive sponsor of the Academic All-America program since 1985. With revenues of more than $21 billion in 1996, GTE is one of the largest publicly held telecommunications companies in the world. In the United States, GTE offers local and wireless service in 29 states and long-distance service in all 50 states. GTE was the first among its peers to offer "one-stop shopping" for local, long-distance and Internet access services.

Following is a complete list of the 1997 GTE Academic All-America Baseball Teams in the University and College Divisions:

UNIVERSITY DIVISION

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

***GTE Academic All-America Team Member of the Year - University Division

COLLEGE DIVISION

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

***GTE Academic All-America Team Member of the Year - College Division

# # #