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PHILADELPHIA – Pat Christensen has been named a CoSIDA/Capital One Second Team Academic All-American, it was announced today. The senior recently concluded a record-breaking pitching career as an Explorer, finishing with 44 career saves. The mark is good for fifth-most in NCAA Division I history.
The La Jolla, Calif. product becomes the second Explorer to earn Academic All-American status this academic year, joining women's soccer's Gabrielle Pakhgitian, who earned the nod following her fantastic fall campaign. John McCarthy, Renee Washington, Stephanie Bearish, Meghan McGlinchey, and Wendy Hutchinson were named Scholar All-Americans as well.
“Pat meant the world to our program,” head coach
Mike Lake said, whose squad recently earned an A-10 tournament berth for the third time in four seasons. “He is the main reason we've been as successful as we've been.
“We're not just losing a student-athlete, we're losing a fantastic human begin because of his humility and how he treats people. Everything Pat has done, he's put his soul into it.”
The recent graduate finds himself all over the program's record book, highlighted by an all-time best 2.73 ERA as well as his save tally. He finished his career second in appearances (105), third in wins (17), and fourth in strikeouts (206).
Last week, Christensen earned a first-team All-Atlantic 10 nod for the second time in his career. The La Jolla, Calif. native was credited with a win or save in 17 of La Salle's 24 victories on the season while posting a conference-best 0.94 ERA in league play.
Christensen is no stranger to excellence in the classroom, having carried a 3.61 GPA as an accounting major. He has twice been recognized as an A-10 Academic All-Conference choice as well as twice being named Big 5 Student-Athlete of the Year. He has also garnered CoSIDA Academic All-District status the last two years.
Christensen also becomes the fourth La Salle baseball player to gain the recognition, joining Joe Discavage ('72), James White ('72), and Brian Schaller ('96, '97).
