Honors and Awards
•First-team Academic All-American (2014)
•First-team All-Summit (2014)
•First-Team Academic All-District 7 (2014)
•Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence (2012-13, 2013-14)
•Summit League Distinguished Scholars List (2013-14)
•Summit League Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll (2012-13, 2013-14)
•MIAA Freshman of the Year (2011)
•Honorable Mention All-MIAA (2011)
•MIAA Scholar-Athlete Award (2010-11)
•MIAA Academic Honor Roll (2010-11)
As a Senior (2014)
First-team All-Summit...First-team Academic All-American by Capital One/CoSIDA...Started all 51 games at shortstop, batting .305 for his senior season...Finished with 29 runs scored, 40 RBI, 15 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 17 walks drawn and a 5-for-6 showing on the basepaths...Ranked second in the Summit League in RBI and third in doubles...Twice selected Summit League Player of the Week (March 31 and April 28)...Had 17 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI performances...Went a perfect 4-for-4 with a run and an RBI against South Dakota State (March 30), tying his career high for hits...Posted a pair of hits, two runs scored, a career-best-tying four RBI and two homers vs. North Dakota State (April 25)...In a doubleheader with Fort Wayne (May 10), combined to go 5-for-10 with five runs scored and three more driven in...Helped Omaha clinch its regular-season league championship at Western Illinois (May 16), tallying two runs and three RBI...Named to the Summit League's Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll, Distinguished Scholars List and Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence.
As a Junior (2013)
Started all but one of his 45 games at shortstop...Hit .266 with seven doubles, one triple, one home runs, 21 runs scored and 29 RBI...His RBI total ranked second on the team...Had 10 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games...Went 1-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases at Kansas State (April 3)...Homered vs. North Dakota State (April 27), finishing 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three more driven in...Came back the following day against the Bison to go 4-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI...Went 3-for-5 with a triple, a run scored and four RBI in the series opener at Oakland (May 9)...Named to the Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence and the Summit League Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll.
As a Sophomore (2012)
Batted .250 while starting all 48 games at second base…Put up nine doubles, two triples, a pair of home runs, 17 RBI and 24 runs scored…Drew a team-leading 19 walks and was 3-for-5 in stolen base attempts…Had 10 multi-hit games and four multi-RBI performances…Went a perfect 4-for-4 with a double and a run scored at Washington State (Feb. 24)…Finished 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI, keying a single, a double and a triple at Missouri (March 6)…Combined for a 4-for-10 effort with two runs scored and another driven in over a series at Northern Colorado (March 9-10)…Scored the winning run in the 19th inning of a marathon game with LIU Brooklyn (March 15)…Was 2-for-4 with three runs scored against Bucknell (March 16), followed by his first home run of the season against Bradley (March 17)…Doubled at UNLV (April 13) to finish 3-for-4 with two RBI…Went 2-for-5 with an RBI at Oakland (April 22)… Delivered his second homer of the season at Indiana State (April 27)…Chipped in a pair of hits and a run scored in the 12-inning series finale with ISU…Tripled and drove in two runs at Kansas State (May 4).
As a Freshman (2011)
Honored as MIAA Freshman of the Year and earned honorable mention All-MIAA status…Started 47 of the 50 games he played, earning the starting nod at second base on March 11...Batting .366 with a team-leading 14 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 36 RBI and 35 runs scored…Owned 19 multiple-hit games, which ranked second on the team, as well as nine multi-RBI performances…Went 3-for-4 with the first home run of his career at Pittsburg State (March 11)…Recorded at least one hit in each game of the Washburn series, capped by a 3-for-5 effort with two RBI and two runs scored...Went 3-for-4 in the final game of the Central Missouri series, scoring once and driving in three runs…Had back-to-back 3-for-4 days against Missouri Southern…Went a combined 4-for-7 with five runs and three RBI in a doubleheader at Fort Hays State (April 22)…Hit his first career grand slam at the MIAA Tournament, helping the Mavs to a 9-2 win over Emporia State and pushing UNO to the championship game.
Papillion-LaVista South High School
Two-year letterwinner for Head Coach Bill Lynam at Papillion-LaVista South High School...Earned first-team Super State honors from the Lincoln Journal Star...Helped the Titans to two state tournament appearances and a state championship in his senior year...Honored as the Runza Student-Athlete of the Week...Also lettered four years in tennis and was a four-time state tournament qualifier...Garnered academic all-state honors in both tennis and baseball.
Personal
Born April 8, 1992 to Deedee and Jim Palensky in Papillion, Neb....Has four siblings -- Sam, Ben, Aaron, and Leah...Hobbies include sports, video games and reading the Bible...Member of the UNO Chancellor's List...Majoring in exercise science with a minor in emergency management.
