Brandon Eckerle

Classroom

Eckerle maintains a 3.98 GPA in general business administration with an emphasis in pre-law. He was recently awarded Michigan State’s Champion in the Classroom Award for the spring semester, and was named a third-team academic All-American in 2010.

Character

Eckerle is highly respected by his teammates and was recently named team captain for the 2011 season. He is also looked upon highly not just by the baseball team and coaching staff, but all student-athletes at Michigan State, as he is a three-year member of the Michigan State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Eckerle was MSU’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2010.

Community

Eckerle is one of the most involved Michigan State student-athletes in the community. He has participated in several community-outreach activities, including a student-athlete food drive, Special Olympics, Fall into Fitness, Chuck A Puck, which is a fundraiser for Children’s Cancer, and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Give Thanks Walk. He has also been baseball’s three-year team leader for Teams for Toys, in which the team adopts a family for the holidays.

Competition

Eckerle will anchor the outfield for the Spartans this season from his usual spot in center field. As a junior he hit a career-high .362 and finished the season ranked among MSU’s single-season leaders with 22 stolen bases (fourth), 81 hits (fifth) and 57 runs (seventh). He has started every game in center the past two seasons.