INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Former Toledo baseball player Ben Hammer has received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, as announced earlier this week by the NCAA. The scholarship is awarded to student-athletes who have excelled academically and athletically.

The one-time non-renewable scholarship of $7,500 is awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter and spring). In each sports season there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women for use in an accredited graduate program.

Hammer started 187 of 194 games in four seasons at UT (2009, '11-13) and was a two-time all-conference honoree (first-team in 2013, second-team in 2011), despite having Tommy John surgery in early 2010. An exercise science major, Hammer wrapped up his collegiate career eighth in school history in hits (215), tied for eighth in doubles (39) and tied for ninth in RBI (126).

In the classroom, Hammer was a member of UT's Dean's List all 10 semesters, including perfect 4.0 GPA in nine grade periods. He is the only player in school history to garner Academic All-District accolades on three occasions, and the Wayne, OH native capped his career with a spot on the second team of the 2013 Academic All-America® Division I Baseball Team. Hammer also received the 2013 MAC President's Award, given annually to seniors who graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.     

In addition to his outstanding work at Toledo on the diamond and in the classroom, Hammer was active in providing volunteer service. Of note is a 14-week experience with the United States Forest Service as an AmeriCorps Intern. This volunteer experience in Cordova, AK required spending most weeks in small tent camps in the Copper River Delta and focused on wildlife research and conservation. The data he collected was later published in the 2014 Wildlife and Ecology Annual Report.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. Athletics and academic achievements, campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership are evaluated. An equitable approach is employed in reviewing an applicant's nomination form to provide all student-athlete nominees an opportunity to receive the postgraduate award, regardless of sport, division, gender or race. In maintaining the highest broad-based standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study.