Baseball | 6/9/2020 12:03:00 PM

AUSTIN, Texas  The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Tuesday released its Academic All-America Division III Baseball Team, placing Methodist University senior catcher Alex Kachler on the First Team of the national academic squad.

Tuesday's release follows the April 15 announcement by CoSIDA that saw the organization vote Kachler a first-team academic all-district 5 selection, an honor that automatically placed him on the academic All-America ballot.

Usually an honor based upon annual statistics, the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly halted the 2020 season, but CoSIDA continued its sponsorship of the Academic All-America awards program, basing its nomination and election process on career statistics.

Though his senior campaign included just 18 games -- affecting his career numbers in Methodist all-time categories -- the 2020 preseason D3baseball.com first-team All-American still finished his Monarch career with enviable totals.

His career batting average finishes at .364, while his slugging percentage (.581) and on-base percentage (.456) add up to a stellar 1.067 On-base Plus Slugging (OPS) percentage -- all-star numbers if produced in Major League Baseball.

Of his 86 career extra-base hits, 56 were doubles -- regardless of his shortened senior season, still a Methodist career record. He produced 183 hits, knocked in 147 runs, and scored 119 runs himself.

Over his career, Kachler accumulated 58 multi-hit outings, and produced a career-best 13-game hitting streak from March 4-27 in the 2019 season.

Defensively, in 134 games played -- earning the starting nod in 129 of those games -- Kachler was charged with a paltry seven errors, and he threw out 33 baserunners on steal attempts.

Kachler majored in industrial engineering and mathematics.