CSC Release

AUSTIN, Texas – Minnesota State baseball student-athletes Nathan Culley and Aidan Byrne  and the University of Mary's Isaac Pegors were named Academic All-America by College Sports Communicators on Tuesday (July 1). Culley and Pegors were recognized as a First Team selection. Culley was also named Academic All-American Team Member of the Year in NCAA Division II Baseball and will be on the final ballot for NCAA Division II 24-25 Overall Academic All-America Team Member of the Year. Byrne was one of three players in Division II to earn Academic All-America for a second straight season, collecting Third Team honors in 2024 and Second Team honors in 2025. 
 
Culley went 12-1 with a 2.52 earned run average as a starting pitcher. He also recorded four complete games and two shutouts. He led the team with 98 strikeouts and walked 27. He worked 7.0 innings in the NCAA Central Region Tournament against Arkansas Monticello on May 15 and allowed three earned runs while striking out eight. Culley earned ABCA All-Central Region First Team and D2CCA and NCBWA All-America honors. He graduated with a 3.91 GPA in Business Leadership.

UMary sophomore Isaac Pegors was also recognized from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Pegors held a 3.85 GPA in Biology for the Marauders. Pegors was chosen to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America baseball third team and the 2025 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings NCAA Division II All-Central Region team. The Marauders first NCAA All-American baseball player, Pegors was previously announced as a member of the 2025 National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-American squad as a 3rd team choice. The All-NSIC 1st team outfielder bashed 18 home runs and drove in 65 runs during the 2025 season. Over the course of 47 games he hit .398 with a .492 on base percentage and a slugging percentage of .795 for an OPS (on base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.287. Among his 64 hits were 10 doubles. He also scored 42 runs and stole four bases.  In addition to his impressive numbers at the plate, the Bismarck, ND, native didn't commit an error in the field, posting a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000 with 73 putouts and two assists while playing right field.
 
Byrne signed a professional contract with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the American Association of Professional Baseball on May 30. The Maverick shortstop set program records for career walks, singles, hits and runs batted in. At the plate, Byrne hit .349 with a team-high 22 doubles, three triples and five home runs for 55 runs batted in. He also stole a team-best 18 bases. In his MSU career, Byrne held a .361 batting average with 18 home runs and 188 runs batted in. He started all 59 games this spring and held a 3.89 GPA in Business Leadership.
 
This year marked the first time in MSU baseball history that team members collected multiple Academic All-America selections. Minnesota State baseball tied a program record with 51 wins in 2025. The team won both regular season and tournament conference titles and hosted the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament at ISG Field. Head Coach Matt Magers was named NCBWA Division II National Coach of the Year.

The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2024-25 Division II Academic All-America® program.