RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Oklahoma Baptist University's
DJ Van Atten and
Lucas Schaefer were named to the All-Great American Conference Baseball Team on Wednesday.
Both were voted on to the Second Team. In addition to those athletic accolades,
Jonah Mahen and
Jaxon McAuliff were named GAC Elite Scholar Athletes.
In his lone season on Bison Hill, Van Atten was a strong presence for the Bison offense, ranking within the top 11 of the league in numerous categories. His 15 doubles were tied for third, while his .479 on-base percentage was slotted eighth. Plus, the Latta, Okla., native ranked ninth with 47 RBI and tenth with a .625 slugging mark.
Van Atten started all 46 games for OBU and had a 14-game hitting streak early in the season. Among his best performances, he went 5-for-5 with four RBI during a Feb. 9 home contest versus Metropolitan State University – Denver. Van Atten also posted a two-home run effort with four runs batted in on March 28 at Southeastern Oklahoma State.
For Schaefer, he was one of the best power hitters in the GAC. He finished third with a .686 slugging mark and was slotted sixth in homers (13). The Petaluma, Calif., native also notched the fourth-most sacrifice flies (5) and finished ninth in RBI (47). Schaefer tied for the team lead with 45 runs scored and produced 13 doubles, third-most on OBU.
In seven games, he registered a season-high three hits and during a March 22 contest versus Ouachita, he homered twice and drove in eight which was a team single-game high during the 2025 campaign.
