CARY, NORTH CAROLINA – Brock Bearden of the University of Texas at Tyler baseball program, has earned the Elite Scholar-Athlete Award for baseball presented on Friday evening by the NCAA.
 
The Elite Scholar-Athlete Award, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite Scholar-Athlete Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships. Athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and in their second year of competition at their institution and must be a member of the active roster at their respective NCAA Championship.
 
Bearden, a Junior from Texarkana, Texas, becomes the third UT Tyler athlete to win the award in as many years, joining Sam Schott (2025) and Carel Wessel (2024). Bearden holds a 4.0 GPA as a Mass Communication major putting him in position to win this award.

This season he is hitting .326 while playing in 59 games thus far. He has 11 doubles, two triples, nine homers, 44 RBI, and 58 runs scored this season. He is slugging .558 and is getting on base at a .474 clip.
 
Bearden will now set his sights on the opening game of the NCAA Division II World Series at 12:30 p.m. central time on Friday against Central Missouri in Cary, North Carolina.