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BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech senior infielder Erik Payne has been named to the Capital One Academic All-District 3 First Team for his efforts in both the classroom and on the diamond this season. It is the third straight year a Tech player has been selected to the team, as former player Mark Zagunis earned a selection in both 2013 and 2014. Payne will now advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

Payne will enter the weekend of the regular season with a team-leading .333 batting average while starting in every game this season for the Hokies, 50. He is tied for the team-lead in hits (64), while he is second in at-bats (192), runs (40), doubles (12), home runs (7), RBIs (49), walks (29), hit-by-pitch (7) and on-base percentage. He is third in total bases (97) and slugging percentage.

He is the only Tech player to have at least 40 runs scored and 40 RBIs and is just one of two players in double figures in both multi-hit (21, leads the team) and multi-RBI (14, second on the team) games, while adding nine multi-run scoring games. He had a team-long 35-game reached base streak, the fourth-longest at the school in a decade and his 16-game hitting streak was the second-longest on the team this season.

The Richmond, Va., native will graduate from Virginia Tech next week with a degree in finance.

To see the complete release, click here.

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