Benavidez to continue baseball career at Sam Houston St.

Chris Benavidez is headed to the NCAA Division I level to play baseball at Sam Houston State University.

The Bryan, Texas native announced his commitment to the Bearkats via Instagram on June 24.

Benavidez, the Badgers leadoff hitter during his lone season at AC, claimed first-team all-conference honors in the WJCAC after leading the team offensively in an array of stat columns.

The redshirt freshman set seven program records in the spring and lead the team in seven statistical categories at the plate. Benavidez was AC’s leader in batting average (.406), slugging percentage (.772), OPS (1.265), hits (73), multi-hit games (26), runs (56), and stolen bases (14).

In the classroom, Benavidez was named to the Dean’s List during the fall semester.

The commitment of the Rudder High School alum marks the third NCAA Division I transfer by a Badger baseball player, joining Jan Avila (Rutgers University) and Gabe Watson (Purdue University).