MARSHALL, Minn. – Three members of the Augustana University baseball team have been named to their second All-America team following the 2017 season. Junior right-handed pitcher Jacob Blank earned First Team honors and was also named the 2017 Ron Lenz National Pitcher of the Year by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association.
 
Senior designated hitter Kris Ashland also earned First Team All-America honors while senior right fielder Patrick O'Donnell earned Third Team honors. Blank, Ashland and O'Donnell were all previously named to the NCBWA All-America team.
 
Blank was recently named the National Player of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
 
The D2CCA All-America and All-Region baseball teams, which are selected by CoSIDA members from schools playing in Division II baseball, were first established in 2007. This is the second year in which the program is solely sponsored by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association.  
 
A junior from Gretna, Nebraska, Blank is the first Viking baseball student-athlete to earn national player of the year recognition. He was named the Central Region Pitcher of the Year by D2CCA, the NCBWA and the American Baseball Coaches' Association while earning First Team All-Region honors in all three publications. Blank was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Year after a stellar junior campaign that included a no-hitter, two NSIC Pitcher of the Week honors and NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week recognition. He finished the year with a record of 10-0, setting a single season program record for wins, with an ERA of 0.78 which led the nation. Blank opened the season throwing 46 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run and finished the year giving up just six earned runs. He struck out 86 batters in 69 innings of work while walking just 15 batters. Blank allowed just eight extra-base hits all season long while not giving up a triple or a home run and holding opponents to a .169 batting average.
 
Ashland, a senior from Bloomington, Minnesota, had a breakout senior season for the Vikings in 2017 earning All-Central Region First Team honors from the NCBWA and D2CCA before earning his first career All-America nod by the NCBWA and D2CCA. He also earned All-NSIC First Team honors in 2017 after breaking the Augustana single season home run record with 17, which led the NSIC and ranked 17th nationally. Ashland finished the year with 63 hits and 62 RBI in 54 games. He batted .348 with seven doubles and a .699 slugging percentage.
 
O'Donnell, from Andover, Minnesota, is making his second straight appearance on D2CCA All-America team after earning first team honors in 2016. O'Donnell has also been named to the NCBWA All-America team in back-to-back seasons. He earned All-Central Region First Team honors from the NCBWA and D2CCA earlier this month after being named the NSIC Player of the Year and All-NSIC First Team. O'Donnell led the Vikings and the NSIC with a .407 batting average in 55 games. He finished the year with a team-high 85 hits, including 20 doubles and four triples while finishing second on the team with nine home runs and 45 RBI. O'Donnell compiled a .670 slugging percentage and a .506 on-base percentage while also stealing 19 bases in 22 attempts. O'Donnell ended his Viking career as one of the best to ever put on a uniform. O'Donnell finished in the top-10 of 10 different batting categories. He leaves as the Viking's career batting champion with a batting average of .426. His career slugging percentage of .694 ranks second and his .496 on-base percentage is the third on the all-time list. He scored 163 career runs which are the fourth best total at Augustana. In his career, he totaled 163 hits and 53 doubles, both of which are ranked third in school history. He hit eight career triples and 27 home runs which rank fifth and sixth respectively. His 135 career RBIs are the eighth most at Augustana while his 388 total bases rank third.
 
Augustana finished the 2017 season with a record of 37-22, including 29-11 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, which was good for a second-place finish in the final league standings. The 2017 season marked the eighth straight season with 30-plus wins for Augustana baseball.
 
Located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Augustana University is a member of NCAA Division II and competes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.