31 May 2023 Barker, Johnson named to ASUN All-Academic Team

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas placed two student-athletes on the 2023 ASUN Conference Baseball All-Academic team on May 22, including the co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Senior outfielder Kolby Johnson earned his second consecutive spot on the All-Academic team, and was joined this year by junior pitcher Jesse Barker, who was also named the ASUN Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Johnson, a right fielder from Pearland, Texas, has a 4.0 grade-point average while earning his Master of Business Administration in Data Analytics. Johnson set the UCA career record for games played this month, finishing with 216, including 197 career starts, which ranks second in school history.

Johnson led the Bears with 20 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games this season, while hitting .293 with 11 home runs, 10 doubles, 3 triples and team highs of 61 hits and 44 runs batted in.

Barker, a righthander from Benton, Ark., led the ASUN with 109 strikeouts, was second in wins with seven and third in ERA at 3.00. Barker finished 7-4 with a league-high three complete games and 96 innings pitched. He struck out a career-high 11 batters twice in conference play (vs. Stetson, vs. Bellarmine) and had 10 strikeouts vs. Austin Peay.

Barker graduated with a degree in general science with a 4.0 grade point average.

Both Johnson and Barker were previously named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) NCAA Division I Academic All-District team.