SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — For the third time in the past three seasons, BYU outfielder Cole Gambill has been named to the West Coast Conference All-Academic Baseball Team.
Gambill, from Alpine, Utah, graduated in April with a 3.93 GPA in finance from the BYU Marriott School of Business. In May, he was named Academic All-District by the College Sports Communicators and was a candidate for Academic All-American.
In 2023, Gambill finished top 10 in the WCC in seven offensive categories including, second in runs (57), fourth in home runs (15), fifth in total bases (123), sixth in slugging (.644), seventh in RBI (43), eighth in doubles (14) and tenth in hits (62).
The Cougar centerfielder was named Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Week and the WCC Player of the Week on April 17. He was also a candidate for the WCC Player of the Week on March 14, April 4, April 18 and May 2.
During his three seasons at BYU from 2021-23, Gambill played in 132 games. He was named All-WCC in 2021 and 2023 and was also a two-time Preseason WCC All-Conference Team section. In addition, Gambill was three-time WCC Commissioner’s Gold Honor Roll recipient and was named WCC Player of the Week three times during his BYU career.
Gambill is married to Lauren Billings Gambill who has been a part of seven BYU Cougarette national championships.
To be considered for the WCC All-Academic Baseball Team, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average, while also being a significant contributor on the team.
Three other Cougars were named 2023 WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention, including right-handed relief pitchers Peyton Cole and Carter Foss, as well as Cougar lefty closer Boston Mabeus.
Mabeus, from Henderson, Nevada, led the Cougar pitching staff with the lowest ERA (3.25), fewest earned runs (10) and lowest opponent batting average (.163). He appeared in 23 games and pitched 27 2/3 innings with a record of 2-0 and collected four saves. Mabeus, who is majoring in communications studies, with a minor in Spanish was named was named WCC Honorable Mention in May and was also WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention in 2022.
Foss, a sophomore from San Diego, is a pre-business major who was named Academic All-District by the College Sports Communicators in May. He appeared in 12 games out of the bullpen in 2023 with 15 strikeouts over 11 2/3 innings. Foss was also named to the WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll as a freshman in 2022.
A two-way athlete, Cole played infield for the Cougars in 2020-21 before moving to mound for the 2022-23 seasons. The right hander from Las Vegas, appeared in 47 games on the mound with a 4-1 record and 45 strikeouts. Cole graduated in April with a degree in Communications. In 2021, he was named WCC All-Academic and to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll for academic excellence.
2023 WCC Baseball All-Academic Team
Sam Biller, LMU
Nick Brink, Portland
Cole Gambill, BYU
Nich Klemp, Portland
Quintt Landis, Pepperdine
Weston Lombard, San Francisco
Greg Mehlhaff, Pepperdine
Ben Nemivant, Pacific
Michael O’Hara, Santa Clara
Angelo Peraza, San Diego
Ezra Samperi, Gonzaga
Coleman Schmidt, Saint Mary’s
Owen Wild, Gonzaga