GREENSBORO, N.C. -- For the first time in its four-year history, the Elmira College baseball program has earned the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award.

The Purple and Gold excelled in the classroom, earning a 3.1 team GPA during the 2017-18 academic year. EC was one of 287 collegiate and high school teams to earn the honor, while being one of 76 teams to represent NCAA Division III. The Soaring Eagles were one of two Empire 8 Conference programs to claim the award, as they were joined by Stevens.

In order to be eligible for the award a team must meet the following criteria; must be a high school or college team, head coach must be a current ABCA member, and the team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale during the 2017-18 academic year.

The ABCA has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/Diamond Regional & National Coaches of the Year and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award.

To view the full list of award winners, click here.