COLUMBUS, Miss. – The W Baseball has earned the 2025-26 Team Academic Excellence Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association, it has been announced.  It marked the second consecutive season in which MUW has earned the ABCA's Team Academic Excellence Award.

The award honors ABCA member programs that posted a cumulative team grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale during the 2025-26 academic year. MUW's squad rolled up a 3.40 GPA last season. 

The ABCA recognized more than 800 member high school and college programs nationwide with the 2025-26 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, presented by Sports Attack. This year's award recipients include more than 500 college programs and more than 320 high school programs. Of the collegiate programs honored, 103 were from NCAA Division III. The Owls were one of just four programs representing the SLIAC (joining Webster, Westminster, and Principia).

"I am very proud of our program to have once again earned this honor from the ABCA," The W Head Coach Scott Mularz said. "Academics are a core value of not just our team, but of our University, the SLIAC, and NCAA Division III. While we always strive for success on the diamond, it is paramount that our players remember that their main goal is to be prepared for the real world when baseball is over."

The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/ATEC Regional & National Coaches of the Year, and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award.