IRVINE, Calif. – Taylor Sparks earned a spot on the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America® third team.

The third baseman, who was voted academic all-district earlier this month, was UCI's 2014 Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Sparks, majoring in sociology, is also a three-time Big West scholar-athlete. He has started 57 games for the Anteaters, who open NCAA regional action today at 2:00 p.m. against UNLV at the Corvallis Regional.

Sparks is batting .290 with 63 hits and 33 runs batted in. A Big West Player of the Week, he leads the team with 14 doubles, is ranked sixth in the country with seven triples and shares the team lead with four home runs.  

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