SEGUIN, Texas -- Riley Schaefer (Thorndale/Thorndale), a senior on the Texas Lutheran University Baseball team, has been selected as the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Character and Community Male Athlete of the Week.

The SCAC honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.

Schaefer, a four-year starter and a 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-American, still holds a perfect 4.0 grade-point average as an accounting major. He is working on his bachelor and master's degrees in accountancy.

Schaefer and the Bulldogs got off to a 9-0 start in 2018. After 15 total games and a 12-3 record, Schaefer has his batting average at .441 with 19 runs scored, five doubles, two triples, a home run, and 12 RBI.

Schaefer is a career .363 hitter with 23 doubles and 71 RBI in 463 at-bats during his time with the Bulldogs. Schaefer has scored 112 career runs.

"I can't really explain it," said Schaefer, commenting on his four years with the Bulldogs. "It's been surreal. I've put in the time, and I've put in a lot of effort to make sure I get the very best out of these four years."

Schaefer, with that perfect GPA, has yet to experience any grade below A in his collegiate career.

"It is true I have yet to make a B, although I was approached by some professors that they were scheming against me to make that a thing," said Schaefer.

Schaefer started as a physics major at TLU, but he switched to accounting at the urging of a former teammate.

"I decided on a whim one time, speaking with an old baseball player, and he was an accounting major," said Schaefer. "He said, 'Dude, you need to try this.' I took one class, and I was hooked."

Schaefer has volunteered with his baseball teammates during a TLU annual service day at a local church â€" cleaning out a labyrinth on the church grounds. He also volunteered with his teammates at a local elementary school. The Bulldogs helped the students with their reading skills.

Schaefer will conduct an internship this summer at RSM in San Antonio. He will take the rest of his master's level classes in the fall. He hopes to sit for the Certified Public Accountant exam, sitting for the exam near the end of his final semester or in the summer.

Schaefer earned a Third Team Academic All-America honor and a First Team Academic All-District award as a junior. He will be a strong candidate again this year for Academic All-America.

Last year, in claiming that Academic All-America honor, Schaefer led TLU to a second-place regular-season finish in the SCAC, Schaefer hit .343 and tallied 33 runs, 26 RBI and 13 stolen bases. He collected seven doubles, five triples and a home run. He made just one error all season.

Schaefer, the team's starting right fielder in 2017, was named to the SCAC First Team and was part of the TLU squad that received the SCAC's Sportsmanship Award for baseball. Schaefer was named to the SCAC Spring Academic Honor Roll for a third consecutive season.