Cratic, Nivens Named to Academic All-District Team

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State baseball players Cam Cratic and Spencer Nivens were honored for their work in the classroom Tuesday with spots on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team.

Cratic becomes Missouri State’s first two-time Academic All-District selection since Alex Jefferson in 2016 and 2017, and carries a 4.0 cumulative grade point average in the sports management Master’s program, a year after being named MSU’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2021-22 as the graduating student-athlete with the highest GPA.

On the field, the sixth-year senior outfielder/designated hitter leads the Missouri Valley Conference with a .455 batting average in league games, and sits at .321 with six home runs and 21 RBI for the full season. The Madison, Wis., native had a career-long 10-game hitting streak in April and slugged the Bears’ first pinch-hit home run since 2019 on April 2 at Illinois State.

Nivens, a third-year sophomore center fielder from Columbia, Mo., ranks in the top six in the MVC in nearly every offensive category and leads the league in slugging percentage, total bases, hits and triples. For the season, Nivens is batting .365 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI while slugging .690 with 34 extra-base hits.

A Freshman All-American last year, Nivens has reached safely in 46 of 49 games this year, ranks eighth nationally with six triples, and owns a 3.77 GPA as a biology major. He was also the MVC Player of the Week on April 10 of this season.

Academic All-District honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot, and honorees will be announced in June. Eligible student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve who has participated in at least 50 percent of their team’s games in the current season, carry a GPA of 3.50 or higher, be a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, and completed one full year at their current institution