The Northern Illinois University baseball team was honored with a 2023-24 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, as announced by the American Baseball Coaches Association on Wednesday.

To qualify for the award, programs must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. A total of 129 NCAA Division I programs were among the over 800 high school and collegiate programs that were recognized for this past academic year.

NIU led the Mid-American Conference this season with 15 Academic All-MAC selections, a program record. Seniors Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) and Colin Summerhill (Chicago, Ill./Troy) earned All-MAC Second Team honors on the field to go with earning spots on the Academic All-MAC and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Teams.

This is the fifth consecutive year NIU Baseball has been recognized nationally for its success in the classroom.

The Huskies finished the 2024 season with a record of 21-33, an 11-win improvement from the previous year with a nine-win improvement in MAC play at 14-16.