Leavenworth, Kan.— The University of Saint Mary is proud to announce that the USM baseball program has been recognized by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) with the 2025-26 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, presented by Sports Attack. This marks the fifth consecutive year the Spires have earned the prestigious distinction, bringing in a final team cumulative GPA of 3.16.

Under the leadership of veteran head coach Bruce Peddie, the Spires have built a culture that values excellence both on the diamond and in the classroom. The ABCA recognized nearly 500 collegiate programs nationwide for achieving a cumulative team grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale during the 2025-26 academic year. Among the collegiate honorees, the University of Saint Mary was one of only two institutions from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) to receive the award alongside conference opponent the Ottawa University Braves.

Seeing the Spires on this list for a fifth straight year reflects the continued commitment of the Spire baseball program to developing well-rounded student-athletes who embody USM's mission of academic excellence, leadership, and competitive success.

The ABCA has recognized the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes for decades. Its awards program includes the nation's oldest collegiate baseball All-America team, founded in 1949, as well as the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Teams, Regional and National Coaches of the Year awards, the ABCA Hall of Fame, the Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award, and numerous other honors celebrating excellence in the sport.

Sports Attack, the presenting sponsor of the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, is a family-owned company based in Reno, Nevada, that has spent more than 30 years designing and manufacturing innovative, hand-built sports training equipment for athletes around the world.

A complete list of the 2025–26 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award recipients, as well as honorees from previous years, is available on the American Baseball Coaches Association website.