STATE COLLEGE, Pa., June 4, 2002 ¡ª Penn State baseball players Mike DeRenzo (Murrysville, Pa.) has been named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-America University Division Baseball Team for the second consecutive season. DeRenzo becomes the first Penn State baseball player to repeat as an academic all-America selection in the program¡¯s history.

DeRenzo is the fifth Penn State student-athlete this year to be named Academic All-America. Penn State currently has the third-highest total of academic all-Americans among all Division-I institutions. . Overall, Penn State has had 97 Academic All-Americans over the last thirty-seven years, including five during the 2001-02 school year. DeRenzo¡¯s selection to the Academic All-American squad marks the fourth Nittany Lion to be so honored since the 1997 season. He also is only the twelfth student-athlete to repeat as an academic all-American since 1965.

DeRenzo, a computer engineering major with a 3.76 grade point average, earned third-team All-Big Ten status for the second consecutive season after finishing second on the squad with a 355 average. The junior also earned the Shorty Stoner Award for the second consecutive year, which is the squad¡¯s award for top academic performance. DeRenzo led the team in 2002 in runs scored with 52, and ranked second on the club in hits with 72. The junior was also named to the Stetson Invitational All-Tournament Team for his performance during the team¡¯s spring trip to Deland, Florida.

Voting for the Verizon Academic All-America Team is conducted by the 1,800 members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00.