Alex Nemunaitis Earns 2025 NCAC Scholar-Athlete Award
After playing a key role in the resurgence of Wittenberg Baseball over the last three years, junior infielder Alex Nemunaitis has been honored with one of the most prestigious awards that can be bestowed upon a Tiger student-athlete. On April 1, Wittenberg Director of Athletics Brian Agler gathered Nemunaitis' teammates together to surprise him with an announcement that he has been selected as the University's male North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Scholar-Athlete Award honoree for the 2024-25 school year.
Instituted by the NCAC during the 1990-91 school year, the Scholar-Athlete Award annually recognizes one male and one female student-athlete from each member institution for outstanding academic and athletic achievement. Baseball student-athletes have won the male award two straight years, as Nemunaitis follows Connor O'Malley, class of 2024, who was selected last year.
Nemunaitis will be recognized at two upcoming events along with Wittenberg's female NCAC Scholar-Athlete Award-winner for 2024-25, women's track and field standout Tiffany Hix. The award-winners are announced each year during the Honors Convocation, which takes place this year on Friday, April 4, and Hix and Nemunaitis will formally receive the awards during the Ezry Awards, which takes place this year on Monday, May 5.
"Being a student-athlete comes with a lot of responsibility. Time management, organization, and self-motivation are just a few traits student-athletes must learn to be successful during their time at school. Personally, being a student-athlete, is a welcome challenge," Nemunaitis said. "This award is an expression of value in both my field of study as well as my sport, and very meaningful. It is such an honor to receive this award and represent Wittenberg as a scholar-athlete."
Majoring in biochemistry/molecular biology at Wittenberg, Nemunaitis has compiled a grade point average of 3.97 as he nears the end of his third year on campus. He is vice president of the Pre-Health Club, he represents his team in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and over the last two seasons, he has been nothing short of sensational on the field and at the plate for the baseball Tigers. After seeing limited playing time as a freshman, Nemunaitis broke into the lineup in 2024, posting a .386 batting average with 56 hits, 13 doubles, six home runs, 40 RBIs, and 41 runs, while recording a .925 fielding percentage.
A graduate of Ottawa Hills High School in suburban Toledo, Ohio, Nemunaitis led Wittenberg in batting average and doubles in 2024, and he finished the campaign tied for second in hits and third in home runs, RBIs, and runs. In the final NCAC statistics, he ranked seventh in batting average and tied for 10th in doubles as he earned second-team All-NCAC honors and then picked up a unique honor as a 64 Analytics All-American following the season. Nemunaitis was one of just 10 NCAA Division III student-athletes to earn the latter recognition, as he was the top-ranked third baseman in the nation based on selected analytics data.
"Alex represents everything we want a Tiger baseball student-athlete to be," said Wittenberg Baseball Head Coach Mitchell Griffiths. "He has made a tremendous impact on our program and on the University, and we are thrilled to see him being recognized in this way."
Nemunaitis has continued to produce in 2025. He has appeared in 20 of the team's first 21 games, and he is batting .344, has an on-base percentage of .494 with 21 runs scored, nine RBIs, and four stolen bases. In 79 career games at Wittenberg, Nemunaitis has a .365 batting average with 80 hits, 16 doubles, seven home runs, 49 RBIs, and 66 runs. The Tigers are 16-5 overall (through April 3), and the Tigers remain in the hunt for a second straight NCAC regular season title after winning their first two NCAC games of the season against DePauw. Wittenberg also figures to rank among the top teams in the region when the first rankings are released later this month.
"I knew I wanted to come to Wittenberg since my first hour of my visit on campus," Nemunaitis said. "When my family was on our way back home from our visit, my brother and I made the decision to call our coach and let him know that we were ready to be Tigers! Ever since day one, I have felt l I have been welcomed with open arms, in so many ways.
"From the older guys on the baseball team inviting me over to hang out as a freshman to my professors inviting me to sit down and discuss my homework during their office hours, . The coaching staff we have has made it their goal, not to just make us better baseball players, but to make us better people to prepare us for our adult lives. The people and the environment here are what makes this place so special. There really is no place like Wittenberg."
Written By: Ryan Maurer