2026 CSC Academic All-America Baseball Teams
SEWARD, Neb. – In recognition of his career as one of the top student-athletes in the history of Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball, Alex Johnson has been honored as the 2026 Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for NAIA baseball. Additionally, teammate Bronx Lewis was tabbed an NAIA First Team Academic All-American and catcher Jake Watson was chosen to the Academic All-America Second Team. The awards were announced by College Sports Communicators (CSC) on June 23. Johnson earned the recognition as a result of a vote that took place among NAIA CSC members. Johnson is the first Bulldog in baseball program history to earn Academic All-America of the Year distinction.
In collegiate baseball, one Academic All-American of the Year is selected from each division (NAIA, NCAA DI, DII and DIII). The 2026 Academic All-America® Baseball Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and academically. Student-athletes must achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher (as sophomores, juniors or seniors) in order to be nominated for this award. Nominees also had to meet specific requirements in terms of games played during the 2026 season.
A native of Olathe, Kan., Johnson spent six seasons in Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s program. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in December 2023, Johnson returned for the 2025 and 2026 seasons and garnered back-to-back GPAC Pitcher of the Year awards. Johnson rose to the top of the school’s all-time lists for career strikeouts (320) and games started (51) while ranking third in wins (26), fourth in innings pitched (237), seventh in earned run average (3.49) and 10th in pitching appearances (51). Johnson equaled a program single season record for strikeouts with 109 in 2026. This past season, Johnson won all seven of his GPAC league starts and produced a 3.88 ERA with a .230 opponent batting average in 67.1 innings.
Johnson is the winner of the Academic All-American of the Year award a year after being selected as a 2025 Second Team Academic All-American by CSC. In addition to being tabbed a two-time GPAC Pitcher of the Year, Johnson is a three-time First Team All-GPAC, two-time CSC Academic All-District and five-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete honoree. As a freshman in 2021, Johnson helped the Bulldogs reach the NAIA World Series. The fireballer pitched in national tournaments in each of his four healthy seasons and was a member of four separate squads that won GPAC championships.
In reacting to the honor, Johnson stated, “It’s hard to put into words. It means a lot. The honor itself holds weight, but it makes you think back to all the time you’ve put into practices, lifting and all the other small things like sleep and hydration. I also think back on my faith journey and how much I’ve grown with God and how He’s led me through this entire thing. That’s what the award means to me. I just give thanks to God for it. It’s pretty cool.”
Said Dupic of Johnson on the day he became the program’s all-time strikeout leader, “I love how he pitches, but I just love him as a person. He’s the type of guy who goes out of his way to see how you’re doing. He cares about people. He’s a role model for kids. I just can’t say enough good things about him. He’ll never be as good of a pitcher as he is a person. I’m just really proud of him.”
Johnson earned his degree in Psychology from Concordia University, Nebraska. He is also nearing the completion of his MBA.
A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and transfer from Kirkwood Community College, Lewis thrived as a senior in 2026. The list of postseason honors for Lewis has included NAIA Third Team All-American (official NAIA All-America team), All-NAIABall Second Team and First Team All-GPAC recognition. He is a two-time CSC Academic All-District recipient. Among all NAIA players this past season, Lewis ranked second in home runs (25) and third in walks (53). The home run total ranks as the fifth highest in a single season in school history. Lewis also slashed .342 BA/.496 OBP/.826 SLG while totaling 71 runs scored, 63 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, 60 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Lewis started all 56 games in the outfield and recorded 82 putouts and five assists.
Lewis played his final two seasons as a Bulldog after transferring from Kirkwood. Over two seasons at Concordia (110 games), Lewis batted .295 (.449 OBP / .640 SLG) with 109 runs, 105 hits, 20 doubles, five triples, 31 home runs, 96 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Lewis was part of two national tournament teams and helped the 2025 squad to a GPAC regular season championship. He graduated from Concordia with his degree in Business Administration.
In his first season as a starter, Watson made a splash while earning the full-time catcher role in 2026. An iron man behind the plate, Watson broke the school single season record for putouts with 479. He caught the NAIA’s leading strikeout staff in terms of strikeouts per nine innings. Offensively, Watson moved into the middle of the lineup and paced the team with a .349 batting average (59-for-169) in 50 games (49 starts). He also posted a .441 on-base percentage and .609 slugging percentage while totaling 15 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 56 RBIs. The Lincoln Christian High School product recorded a .987 fielding percentage. Watson landed on the GPAC All-Conference first team this past season. Watson is studying Accounting.
In Concordia Athletics history, six other student-athletes have been named Academic All-Americans of the Year within their respective sports: Rachel Battershell (2023), Zach Bennetts (2023), Chandler Folkerts (2017), Samantha Liermann (2019), Josiah McAllister (2019) and Josie Puelz (2022).
Previous Academic All-Americans from the baseball program are Jaidan Quinn (2024 and 2025), Ben Berg (2023), Jesse Garcia (2023), Nathan Buckallew (2021), Nick Little (2018, 2020 and 2021) and Thomas Sautel (2020).