Louisville Trio Earns Additional All-America Accolades
June 11, 2014 | Baseball
June 11, 2014
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Junior Nick Burdi, sophomore Kyle Funkhouser and senior Jeff Gardner added to their list of honors on Wednesday with the release of the All-America teams from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Baseball America.
Burdi, a righty pitcher from Downers Grove, Ill., was named First Team All-America by the NCBWA, while Gardner, an outfielder from Louisville, was tabbed as a Second Team All-American by the baseball writers. Funkhouser, a righty from Oak Forest, Ill., was chosen as a Second Team All-American by the NCBWA and was a Third Team selection by Baseball America.
Earlier in the postseason, Burdi was named as a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American, while Funkhouser and Gardner were selected as Second Team All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
A First Team All-American Conference selection, Burdi is 3-1 with a school record 18 saves, a 0.51 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 30 relief appearances and 35.1 innings pitched this season. The hard-throwing closer is the Cardinals' career saves leader with 34 entering the College World Series. Last season, Burdi earned All-American accolades from two additional organizations (Perfect Game, NCBWA).
A year after earning Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors, Funkhouser set a single season school record for wins going 13-2 with a 1.73 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 114.1 innings and 17 starts. A First Team All-American Conference selection, Funkhouser was even more dominant in his eight league starts going 7-1 with a 0.99 ERA and 58 strikeouts.
The 2014 American Conference Player of the Year, Gardner enters the CWS hitting .321 with nine home runs, 68 RBI, 20 doubles and a .538 slugging percentage in 63 starts. A three-time All-Conference selection, Gardner has a .321 career average with 23 home runs, 158 RBI and 53 doubles in 177 starts and 216 games played in four seasons with the Cardinals.
In head coach Dan McDonnell's eight seasons leading the Louisville baseball program, 14 different players have earned All-American honors from various organizations.
The third-ranked Cardinals (50-15) open their second straight CWS appearance on Saturday at 7 p.m., CT at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha against Vanderbilt in a nationally televised matchup on ESPN2.
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