Luke Lawrence '16 of the Gettysburg College baseball team became the 11th student-athlete in school history to be awarded a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, it was announced Tuesday.
Lawrence is one of just 29 male student-athletes – and one of just four baseball players – who compete in spring sports across all three NCAA divisions to capture the award – a one-time grant of $7,500. He is the first-ever baseball player at Gettysburg to receive the prestigious honor.
It is the third major academic award of the spring for Lawrence, who was also named a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American and the Centennial Conference (CC) Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition, he captured All-Centennial Conference Honorable Mention recognition.
After serving as a relief pitcher over his first three years with the Bullets, Lawrence – a two-year team captain – made a smooth transition to the outfield. The team's leadoff hitter for much of the season, he started the year on a tear, going 12-for-16 over his first four games. He ended up batting .327 and tied for the team lead in stolen bases (seven). He also scored 34 runs and roped six doubles, two triples, and one home run. Primarily playing centerfield, Lawrence committed just two errors for the season and had one outfield assist. He helped the Bullets finish 24-17-1 (10-7-1 CC) and earn a spot in the Centennial Conference playoffs.
As a pitcher, Lawrence tied the school record for career saves (six) and was named First Team All-Centennial Conference as a sophomore, when he finished 4-1 with four saves and a 0.27 ERA, yielding just one earned run in 33 innings pitched.
Lawrence was a Health Sciences major and has worked as a summer research scholar and a research assistant at Nemours/Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children, conducting pediatric bone density research. During the past season, he has led Gettysburg's "Take ALS Yard" initiative, which has raised over $48,000 for ALS research over the last four seasons. Lawrence is currently applying to medical school.
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually: 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports, and spring sports. Each sports season (fall, winter and spring), there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women. The scholarships are one-time, non-renewable grants.
