NEW ORLEANS - Five Sun Belt student-athletes were named to the 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District™ Baseball Teams, which recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

Representatives from the Sun Belt on the All-District First Teams included a trio of players from Georgia State - Ryan Blanton, Justin Jones and Joey Roach. Those three along with South Alabama's Hunter Soleymani were all named to the District 4 First Team. UL Lafayette's Dylan Moore was chosen to the District 6 First Team.

Roach, the senior catcher from Holly Springs, N.C., is on the Academic All-District team for the second straight year after earning second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2015. The actuarial science major (3.89 GPA) is a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection, a 2015 Johnny Bench Award semifinalist and one of 10 national finalists for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award. He is currently hitting .333 with 11 homers and 45 RBI.

Blanton, a junior from Lilburn, Ga., has a 3.80 GPA in exercise science. The Panther center fielder was a first-team all-conference selection in 2015. He is hitting .256 with six home runs, 19 RBI and 35 runs scored.

A sophomore from Warner Robins, Ga., and exercise science major, Jones has the highest GPA on any of the Academic All-District teams at 4.04. A Freshman All-American in 2015 and the Preseason All-Sun Belt shortstop in 2016, he is batting .278 with 20 RBI while anchoring a GSU defense that has turned 42 double plays.

Soleymani, a senior from Pelham, Ala., enters this weekend's series with Georgia Southern 4-1 with a 3.41 ERA and one complete game in 11 appearances with 10 starts, and has struck out 37 batters and issued 26 walks in 66 innings pitched while limiting the opposition to a .225 batting average.

Moore, a sophomore from Hughes Springs, Texas, has been exceptional going 4-1 in 19 appearances and ranks sixth in the nation with 11 saves. Moore has registered a 0.53 ERA in 34 innings and has limited opponents to a .120 average.

The Academic All-District™ teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the fifth year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America® Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

First-team Academic All-District™ honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

District 4 (AL, FL, GA, PR, SC) - First Team

POS.	NAME	SCHOOL	YEAR	HOMETOWN	GPA	MAJOR
P	Hunter Soleymani	South Alabama	Sr.	Pelham, Ala.	3.81	Biomedical sciences
C	Joey Roach	Georgia State	Sr.	Holly Springs, N.C.	3.89	Actuarial science
IF	Justin Jones	Georgia State	So.	Warner Robins, Ga.	4.04	Exercise science
OF	Ryan Blanton	Georgia State	Jr.	Lilburn, Ga.	3.80	Exercise science

District 6 (AR, IA, LA, MN, MO, MS, ND, SD, WI) - First Team

POS.	NAME	SCHOOL	YEAR	HOMETOWN	GPA	MAJOR
P	Dylan Moore	UL Lafayette	So.	Hughes Springs, Texas	4.00	Political science pre-law