San Marcos, Texas – Junior Travis Ballew became the third Texas State pitcher in the program's history to earn all-America honors when Collegiate Baseball released its national NCAA Division I selections on Thursday. A 6-foot right-hander from Rockwall, Ballew was named to the Louisville Slugger All-American Third Team after a vote from the Collegiate Baseball staff.

The all-America honor of the first of Ballew’s career in his first season as a full-time starter. He was also named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and an all-conference first team selection, while being placed on the College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year Watch List. During the course of the season, Ballew was named the Southland Pitcher of the Week one time and also received College Baseball Hall of Fame National All-Star Lineup recognition.

Ballew concluded his 2012 season with an 11-4 record, 2.73 ERA and 119 strikeouts over 102 1/3 innings on the mound. Ballew held opponents to just a .239 batting average collectively, and he also managed two shutouts as part of four complete games. His 119 strikeouts currently rank him sixth in the nation, while his 11 wins put him in a tie for third nationally.

Ballew’s 2012 season has put him in the top-10 in several categories for the Bobcats all-time. His 11 wins put him in a tie for second in a season with former players Bobby Sawicki and Blake Williams, all three of whom finished one win behind William Brunson’s 12-win season in 1992. Ballew also ranks fourth in Texas State history in single-season strikeouts, while his two shutouts tie him for fifth and his 2.73 ERA is the 10th best.

Amongst Ballew’s many standout performances during the season was a three-hit shutout of Notre Dame before he struck out a career-high 12 batters at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 5 when he limited the limited the Islanders to one run over nine innings. He then tied his career high with two more 12-strikeout performances later in the season.

With his all-America honor, Ballew joins Casey Kalenkosky, Carson Smith, Paul Goldschmidt and Kane Holbrooks as players who have been recognized nationally with all-America accolades for Texas State. In addition, Tyler Sibley was named a freshman all-American for the Bobcats back in 2009.