Baseball: DeVito and Estrella recognized for work in school

As the season is winding down, accolades are beginning to come in for first place New Mexico.

However, junior DH Chris DeVito and senior pitcher Alex Estrella aren’t just getting noticed for their on-field efforts in a tight Mountain West Conference race. They are also dominating in the classroom.

Both Estrella and DeVito were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 on Thursday. It is the second time Estrella has won the award, the third Lobo to receive the honor and the first since 2003.

Estrella entered Friday night’s series against UNLV with a team-high 20 appearances. He has accumulated a sound 2.42 ERA and the lefty is holding hitters to just a .205 batting average. He is also striking out three batters per walk with 21 Ks on the year.

Estrellla currently has a 4.0 in his MBA program.

For DeVito, his 3.52 GPA in UNM’s criminology program garnered his first nod at the award. DeVito has a chance to become the fourth LOBO player to ever win All-America honors both in the classroom and for his performance on the field.

The slugger has been tearing the cover off the ball this season hitting .408, slugging .707, 54 RBIs, 12 homers, and 17 doubles. The junior is also among the nation’s elite with his 130 total bases.

Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.