(Greenville, SC) The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) announced their All-American baseball awards on Friday and four Cardinals were recognized. Tyson Kleinfelter and Calvin Syrjala were named First Team All-Americans, Adam Purdy was named to the Second Team, and Grant Steinborn took home Third Team and All-Tournament honors.
Tyson Kleinfelter capped off a terrific season on the mound for Concordia with First Team honors. Prior to the start of the NCCAA World Series, Kleinfelter was among the top-10 of the NCCAA in ERA, opposing batting average, innings pitched, strikeouts and wins. The Cardinal hurler finished the season with a 2.41 ERA, 0.206 opposing batting average, 89.2 innings pitched, 86 strikeouts, and 8 wins.
Calvin Syrjala joined Kleinfelter on the First Team win four triples and 38 walks which were both fourth in the NCCAA. The right fielder's .314/.446/.617 slash line helped drive in 50 runs on the season.
Adam Purdy was the lone Cardinal on the Second Team. Leading off most games for the Cardinals, Purdy led the NCCAA in triples with 6 and was fourth in the NCCAA with 26 stolen bases. The center fielder also led the team in batting average (.344), hits (72), and runs (51).
Rounding out the Cardinal NCCAA All-American awards is pitcher/first baseman Grant Steinborn. At the plate, Steinborn led the NCCAA with 8 sacrifice flies and led the team in doubles (14) and RBIs (51). On the mound, the southpaw had a 3.79 ERA on his way to a 7-3 record. Steinborn was also named to the All-Tournament team due to his 6 hits, 2 walks, 6 RBIs while batting and a complete game win over College of the Ozarks.
Three Cardinals were named to the NCCAA All-Academic Team for their success in the classroom. Caleb Chamberlain, Jacob Henry, and Jake Smith were all recognized by the NCCAA.