Lavender Tabbed as All-American

AURORA, Ill. May 31, 2005 - In just three years as a member of the AU baseball team, Jay Lavender, a senior outfielder from Oswego, Ill./Oswego HS, left his mark on the Spartan baseball program. Lavender’s latest distinction came as he was named a 2005 NCAA Division III First-Team All-American.

In addition to the First-Team All-American honor, Lavender was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division III Central Region Hitter of the Year, First-Team All-Central Region, Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC) Player of the Year, First-Team All-NIIC, and AU Male Athlete of the Year.

The Oswego native had a .424 batting average with 52 runs scored, 18 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 62 runs batted in, a .733 slugging percentage, a .490 on-base percentage, and 10 stolen bases. He led the Spartans to back-to-back NIIC tournament championships and their first NIIC regular-season title since the 2002 season. Lavender was a Second-Team All-Central Region player as a sophomore.

Led by Lavender’s stellar season, the AU Spartan baseball team finished with a 34-9 overall record and 14-4 in the NIIC, while capturing the regular-season conference championship, their second consecutive Conference Tournament Championship, and the NIIC bid into the 2005 NCAA baseball tournament. The NCAA appearance was AU’s 16th in school history (since 1987) and the NIIC title was the 19th in the last 22 seasons.

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