AUSTIN, Texas – Minnesota State baseball student-athletes Nathan Culley and Aidan Byrne were named Academic All-America by College Sports Communicators on Tuesday (July 1). Culley was recognized as a First Team selection. He 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 (Andover, Minnesota) 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.
 
Byrne (Eagan, Minnesota) 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.
 
UMary sophomore Isaac Pegors (First Team, UMary) was also recognized from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Pegors held a 3.85 GPA in Biology for the Marauders.
 
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.
 
Minnesota State Baseball CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-America
Dick Grass/DH/First Team/1975
Mike Skowronek/OF/Second Team/1989
Ben Keller/C/Third Team/1993
Aidan Byrne/INF/Third Team/2024
Aidan Byrne/INF/Second Team/2025
Nathan Culley/LHP/First Team/2025

Minnesota State Academic All-American Team Member of the Year (all-sports, all-time)

Student-Athlete	Sport	Year
Lisa Walters*	Basketball	1988
Kendra Huettl*	Softball	2012
Jenny Vetter*	Soccer	2022
Nathan Culley*	Baseball	2025