The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced the 2020 Academic All-District NAIA baseball team on Thursday afternoon. Grant Steinborn (SR/Flushing, MI) and Chris Lowe (SR/DeWitt, MI) were the two Cardinals selected to the 12 member team based on their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
Steinborn and Lowe have made significant contributions to the Cardinal baseball program. The duo's has led the Cardinals to the most successful stretch in program history. In 2019, the Cardinals recorded 39 wins culminating in a National Christian College Association (NCCAA) World Series Championship.
Grant Steinborn has been a dual threat for the Cardinals, both on the mound and at the plate. Earning WHAC Pitcher of the Year last season, the southpaw touted an impressive 18-5 career record paired with a 2.72 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. When not toeing the rubber, Steinborn has been stalwart at first base and shined on the left side of the plate. Practicing both plate discipline (.411 On-base percentage) and power (.448 slugging percentage), the senior tallied 85 career RBI's in the meat of Concordia's batting order.
Steinborn has proven to be productive both on and off the field as he accumulated a 3.56 GPA as a Business Management major.
Senior infielder Chris Lowe experienced a breakout year for the Cardinals in 2019. Lower recorded career highs in runs (43), hits (65), RBI (31), and batting average (.349). Lowe was equally productive in the classroom. Lowe's career batting average of .341 ranks among the Cardinals top ten.The accounting major recorded a 3.60 cumulative GPA through the first semester earning him WHAC All-Academic honors twice. Lowe's career batting average
Steinborn and Lowe were voted in by Sports Information Directors from District 1 that includes 22 states. This is the first time that Lowe and Steinborn have been recognized by CoSIDA. They join several all other Cardinal baseball players that have earned all-district and all-america honors. Jeremy Maas (2016), Marshall Oetting (2018), and Blaine Milheim (2019) were named to all-district teams with Maas and Milheim also being named to the prestigious all-america first team.
The two Cardinals will now be placed on the ballot for CoSIDA all-america consideration with those teams being released later this month.
The 2020 All-District baseball teams have been released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. For more information about Academic All-District and Academic All-America Teams program, please visit http://cosida.com
