GREENWOOD, Ind. – Washington State senior pitcher A.J. Block was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team, CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) announced Thursday.

Block produced a 3.62 cumulative GPA while earning his bachelor's degree in computer science and was a two-time Pac-12 Conference All-Academic first-team selection. The senior lefthander is the second Cougar to receive the honor, joining pitcher Collin Maier who earned the same accolade in 2018.

Block was enjoying a breakout senior campaign in 2020 before the season was cut short due to COVID-19. The Bellevue, Wash. native made four starts, went 2-1 with a 3.25 ERA, led the Pac-12 with 27.2 innings and tied for the second-most strikeouts in the league with 34. Block was rated the second-best Pac-12 senior pitcher and the eighth-best senior pitcher in the country by D1Baseball.com. Block closed the season recording 10 strikeouts in each of his final three starts.

The 2020 Academic All-District® Baseball and Softball Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes baseball and softball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and the NAIA. Honorees selected first-team Academic All-District® will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. Academic All-America® honorees will be announced from June 8-11.