Quartet of Eagles named to CSC Academic All-District team
INDIANAPOLIS – Four Carson-Newman baseball players were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, the organization announced on Tuesday afternoon.
2026 CSC All-District Teams (PDF)
AUSTIN, Texas – Four Carson-Newman baseball players were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, the organization announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Logan Floyd (Adairsville, Ga.), Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.), Cole Nathan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Denver Slifka (Knoxville, Tenn.) were honored. For Gibson, it is his third straight honor. Floyd and Nathan collect their second straight CSC all-district honor, while Slifka earns his first.
The 2026 Academic All-District® Baseball teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes baseball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
Logan Floyd earned All-SAC honors for the third time in his career, becoming the first Eagle since Derek Long to be an all-conference player in three consecutive seasons. This academic all-district honor is his second academic honor of the year, after being named the South Atlantic Conference's Baseball Scholar Athlete of the Year last week.
The second team All-SAC first baseman produced the best season of his career. He posted career numbers in basically every single major offensive category, hitting .410 with ten home runs, 56 RBI, with 31 extra-base hits overall. In 183 at bats, Floyd struck out just 13 times and posted a .699 slugging percentage. The junior's .410 batting average in 48 games is the third-best average in the program's DII era. His 19 doubles finish as the eighth-most in a season in the program's DII era as well.
Floyd had 25 multi-hit and 18 multi-RBI games this season. His longest streaks of the season were a 14-game hitting streak and a 32-game on-base streak.
Aiden Gibson closed his collegiate career by hitting .281 in 48 appearances. The senior drove in 29 runs and was one of five Eagles to record at least 40 hits. In 2026, Gibson had 11 multi-hit days including a pair of four-hit days. He posted seven multi-RBI days.
The senior infielder finished his C-N career with 160 hits in 197 games. He made 192 starts over four years, making at least 42 in each of his four seasons. Gibson was a career .260 hitter and reached base more than 37 percent of the time. As a third baseman and shortstop, the Cleveland native had a .938 fielding percentage.
Cole Nathan was a .299 hitter in his junior year. He was one of just three Eagles with more than 50 hits, finishing with 53 hits and 15 of those went for extra bases. Nathan blasted six home runs, tied for the second-most on the team. He drove in 35 runs, the third-most on the club.
The second baseman was terrific in 23 road games. Nathan posted a .357 batting average on the road with four of his six home runs coming in such games as well. His 10 multi-RBI days were the second-most on the team, pairing that with 12 multi-hit efforts. Nathan had a 29-game on-base streak during the 2026 season, the second-longest on the club.
2026 was Denver Slifka's debut season and C-N called his number frequently. The right-handed pitcher made 17 appearances, the third-most on the team. Over 17 outings, Slifka pitched 18 2/3 innings with 12 strikeouts.
The redshirt-freshman made his first career start against King on March 31st. One of his most effective outings of the year was in his second career appearance. Slifka fired 3 1/3 innings against #10/6 Lenoir-Rhyne, allowing just two runs and striking out three. He excelled in the month of March, allowing just two runs over seven plus innings.
Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. Logan Floyd has been selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalist and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced June 23.
