June 29, 2017
By Michael Scholl
GREENSBORO, North Carolina — A quartet of University of Notre Dame baseball players have been named to the 2017 All-ACC Academic Team.
Kyle Fiala, Eric Gilgenbach, Sean Guenther and Jake Johnson were among 54 baseball players honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Thursday afternoon.
The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports.
Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade-point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career for undergraduate students. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
The ACC Honor Roll, which recognizes all-conference student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.0 for the current academic year, will be released in July.
Kyle Fiala (Carmel, IN/Carmel)
Serving as a team captain, Fiala started 47 games before suffering a season-ending broken hamate bone in the Louisville series. He hit .279 with five homers and 32 RBI. He slugged .432 for the year with a .335 on-base percentage and led the Irish with eight sacrifice bunts while going successfully stealing on all nine attempts.
Fiala was named to the league’s All-Academic team in 2015 and is a three-time Academic Honor Roll selection. He graduated from the Mendoza College of Business in May with a degree in finance.
Eric Gilgenbach (Rochester Hills, MI/Stoney Creek)
Gilgenbach emerged as the starting right fielder late in his sophomore season, eventually totaling 14 starts while seeing action in 36 total games. He hit .333 with three homers and five doubles while slugging .608 and reaching base at a .500 clip.
The Michigander was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll as a freshman in 2016 and is enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business.
Sean Guenther (Atlanta, GA/Marist School)
Guenther became the Irish closer as a junior in 2017, recording seven saves while leading the team with a 2.64 ERA. In 58.0 innings, he struck out 69 batters while walking just 19. He was also a part of two shutout victories. He was selected by the Miami Marlins in the seventh round (209th overall) after a three-year career which has seen Guenther record six victories and 13 saves with an ERA of 3.50 and 153 strikeouts. He was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2015, as well as to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
Enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business as a finance major, Guenther was named to the ACC All-Academic team in 2015 and has been on the ACC Academic Honor Roll his first two years.
Jake Johnson (Atlanta, GA/The Westminster Schools)
Johnson was arguably the breakout player of the 2017 campaign, starting 53 games in the outfield after having made 43 starts over his first two seasons combined. He was second on the team as a junior with a .305 average, contributing 24 RBI on 14 doubles, two triples and two homers. He led eligible batters with a .401 on-base percentage and was the only Irish fielder to not commit an error (on at least four fielding chances).
The Atlanta native was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll each of his first two years at Notre Dame and is a finance major in the Mendoza College of Business.
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Michael Scholl joined Fighting Irish Media in August 2016, coordinating communications for the baseball program and assisting with the football team at his alma mater. The South Bend native earned a degree in political science from the College of Arts & Letters in 2009 before going on to work in athletics communications at Providence College, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati.