BOONE, N.C. — David Towarnicky became the first Appalachian State University student-athlete in 18 years to receive first-team Academic All-America recognition when he was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America 2010 baseball first team on Tuesday.

A senior first baseman, Towarnicky is only the fourth student-athlete and second baseball player in Appalachian history to earn Academic All-America honors. Football player D.J. Campbell was ASU's most recent first-team Academic All-American in 1992. Baseball's Jamie Harris and football's Gil Beck received the recognition in 1984 and 1977, respectively. Beck was inducted into CoSIDA's Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2004.

Towarnicky, who was a third-team Academic All-American a year ago, carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a double-major in banking and finance and risk insurance management with a minor in international business. Last month, he was honored by ASU's Walker College of Business as the college's top overall student and top banking and finance major, as well as earning an academic achievement award from the Wall Street Journal. A member of ASU's Chancellor's List, Dean's List, Walker College of Business honors program and Beta Gamma Sigma honor society, Towarnicky was also named the recipient of the Southern Conference's Camp Champs graduate scholarship earlier this spring.

On the field, Towarnicky is a .303 career hitter with 39 doubles, 21 home runs and 147 RBI (good for fifth in ASU history) as a four-year starter at first base. He has made 190 career starts, including a current string of 116-straight, and sports a .992 career fielding percentage with only 14 errors in 1,754 chances. He is hitting .302 with 11 doubles and a career-best eight home runs and 43 RBI this season.
 
For his efforts on and off the field, Towarnicky is one of 10 nationwide finalists for college baseball's prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which will be presented at next month's College World Series to the player with the most notable achievements in four areas of excellence — classroom, character, community and competition.

Towarnicky is the only Southern Conference representative and the lone player from the state of North Carolina on this year's baseball Academic All-America first, second or third teams.

Towarnicky and the seventh-seeded Mountaineers (35-16-1) open SoCon Tournament action on Wednesday at 9 a.m. versus No. 2-seed College of Charleston (41-15). The tournament is being played at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.