ITHACA, N.Y. – College Sports Communicators (CSC) released its Academic All-America teams for the 2026 baseball season on June 23 for all three NCAA Divisions, along with the NAIA, and Ithaca College sophomore first baseman
Ethan Fantel was named to the third team.
Fantel becomes the 120th all-time student-athlete at Ithaca College to receive this prestigious honor, which is one of the hardest academic awards to earn in collegiate athletics due to the high academic requirements, accompanied by high-level success in athletic competition.
He is the ninth baseball player to be named Academic All-America since the award was created back in 1969-70 and is the first since 2022-23.
In the classroom, Fantel has achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.90 in sports media. For those efforts, he was also named to Liberty League All-Academic.
On the diamond, Fantel batted .444 with 58 RBI, 35 walks, 34 runs scored, 14 doubles and seven home runs in just 35 games played. He began the season on a 17-game hitting streak and finished the year hitting safely in 11 of the final 12 games. Fantel also reached base in all 35 games to conclude the season with a .584 on-base percentage.
The Kendall Park, N.J. native ranks fifth on the single season list for RBI and is the only player in the top 10 to drive in more than 50 runs in 40 games or fewer. His .444 average sits fifth on the single season list, while his .413 career average through two seasons is tops in program history.
He was named Fifth Team All-American by D3baseball.com, as well as Liberty League Player of the Year.
