Lincoln - A pair of University of Nebraska baseball players were honored Tuesday, as Jeff Leise and Aaron Marsden were selected as Verizon First-Team Academic All-Americans by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Both players were selected to the 11-member first-team, as 2003 marks the first time Nebraska has ever had two selections on the first team. It also marks the third straight season that two Husker baseball players have earned Academic All-America honors, as the duo claimed the 12th and 13th baseball awards in school history.

Leise received one of the highest honors a baseball player can receive, as he was chosen as the Verizon Academic All-American of the Year for the second straight season, becoming the first Husker male athlete to be selected as a two-time All-American of the Year. He follows Arizona State?s Casey Myers, who was the Baseball Academic All-American of the Year in 2000 and 2001, as the only players to repeat as All-Americans of the Year. Leise becomes the fourth Husker to ever receive the honor, joining fellow double-winners Janet Kruse (1990-1991, volleyball), Karen Jennings (1992-1993, women?s basketball) and Virginia Stahr (1988-89, volleyball).

A first-team All-American in 2002, Leise carries a 3.79 GPA in psychology and heads into this week?s NCAA Regional batting .337 with seven homers and 33 RBIs. The senior leads the Huskers in hits (83) and stolen bases (19), while ranking second on school career lists in both hits and runs scored.

Marsden, who carries a 3.95 GPA in business administration, has also excelled on the field, where he is a two-time All-Big 12 selection and was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year on Monday. The Grand Forks, N.D., native has an 8-2 record with a 2.78 ERA in 107 innings pitched this spring. He ranks second in the Big 12 with 107 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .243 batting average.

The Huskers, who are 44-16 on the season, will play host to Eastern Michigan in the NCAA Lincoln Regional beginning Friday at 12:05 p.m. As of this 2 p.m. on Tuesday, nearly 4,950 all-session tickets have been sold for this week?s regional, which also features Southwest Missouri State and Coastal Carolina.