Stowell Named PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year

MORENO VALLEY >> After bringing in a host of awards, including three NCAA Division II All-American accolades, California Baptist University's Dylan Stowell was honored for his academic performance when he was named the PacWest Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Stowell turned in a 2016 season that made him the consensus top pitcher in the West Region and one of the best in Division II at large, but his grades never suffered. He was one of three of the seven PacWest baseball players nominated to post a grade point average higher than a 3.75. The junior, who earned the title of PacWest Pitcher of the Year, was also named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America in early June. He is the second Lancer to be named the PacWest Baseball Scholar Athlete of the Year over the last four years. Zach Esquerra earned the first award in 2013. After throwing just six innings his previous two seasons due to injury, he topped that with seven innings in his first appearance of 2016. It just got better from there for the business major, as he went on to be named the Division II West Region Pitcher of the Year on all three teams, and became a three-time All-American this season. CBU won 11 of the 12 games Stowell started this year, and it makes sense looking at his numbers. His 1.52 earned-run average and 9-0 record both rank first in the conference and fourth and 35th, respectively, in Division II. The junior's 81 strikeouts ranked third in the PacWest regular season, behind teammates Jeremy McDonald and Tyson Miller. He logged two complete games and one shutout this year, while he held the opposition to a .235 batting average.