Wallner Adds Pair of Second-Team All-America Honors and an All-Region Accolade
6/12/2019 1:02:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss outfielder Matt Wallner (Forest Lake, Minn.) added to his postseason awards, Wednesday, by being named second-team All-American by both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Perfect Game as well as garnering All-South Region first-team honors by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).
This is the third All-America accolade for Wallner by the NCBWA and second by Perfect Game of his Southern Miss career. Wallner also earned Freshman All-America honors from both media outlets and was the NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year in 2017.
Combining his first-team All-America honor earlier this week by Baseball America, Wallner now has garnered 10 All-America distinctions in his three-year Golden Eagle career.
Wallner has also earned first-team All-South Region honors by the ABCA for the third consecutive season.
In three seasons for the Golden Eagles, Wallner played in all 189 games, making 188 starts (10 in leftfield, 93 in centerfield, 67 in rightfield and 18 at designated hitter including once as both DH/P).
A co-captain this season as voted on by his teammates, he batted .323 during his junior campaign, with 12 doubles, 23 home runs and 60 RBI, earning Conference USA first-team honors. His home run total is tied with four other former Golden Eagles (Clint King 2003, Jeff King 2003, Bill Selby 1992, Fred Cooley 1989) for the most in a single season at the school.
Wallner became the school's career home run king with 54 on the final day of the regular season versus UAB (5/18) with a pair of homers. He added two more round-trippers in the C-USA Tournament and two in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional to finish with 58 homers for his career.
He earned selection to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team and was the C-USA Tournament Most Valuable Player, which included a 10th-inning, game-winning two-run homer against Rice in the C-USA opener.
It was his second game-winning homer of his career and third game-winning hit. He also earned C-USA Hitter of the Week (May 19) during the final week of the regular season.
Wallner ranks fifth on the career charts for RBI (190), sixth in slugging percentage (.652), seventh in total bases (449) and first in walks (141). He enjoyed a season-high nine-game hitting streak late in the season, ending in the first LSU regional contest. He finished third in multi-hit games (17 two-hit, 5 three-hit, 1 four-hit) with 23 and first in multi-RBI games (9 two-RBI, 3 three-RBI, 3 four-RBI and 1 five-RBI) with 16.
Last week, Wallner became the highest-ever draft pick by a Southern Miss baseball player as the Minnesota Twins took him with the No. 39 pick overall in the Competitive Balance Round A, sandwiched between the first and second rounds.
This is the third All-America accolade for Wallner by the NCBWA and second by Perfect Game of his Southern Miss career. Wallner also earned Freshman All-America honors from both media outlets and was the NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year in 2017.
Combining his first-team All-America honor earlier this week by Baseball America, Wallner now has garnered 10 All-America distinctions in his three-year Golden Eagle career.
Wallner has also earned first-team All-South Region honors by the ABCA for the third consecutive season.
In three seasons for the Golden Eagles, Wallner played in all 189 games, making 188 starts (10 in leftfield, 93 in centerfield, 67 in rightfield and 18 at designated hitter including once as both DH/P).
A co-captain this season as voted on by his teammates, he batted .323 during his junior campaign, with 12 doubles, 23 home runs and 60 RBI, earning Conference USA first-team honors. His home run total is tied with four other former Golden Eagles (Clint King 2003, Jeff King 2003, Bill Selby 1992, Fred Cooley 1989) for the most in a single season at the school.
Wallner became the school's career home run king with 54 on the final day of the regular season versus UAB (5/18) with a pair of homers. He added two more round-trippers in the C-USA Tournament and two in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional to finish with 58 homers for his career.
He earned selection to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team and was the C-USA Tournament Most Valuable Player, which included a 10th-inning, game-winning two-run homer against Rice in the C-USA opener.
It was his second game-winning homer of his career and third game-winning hit. He also earned C-USA Hitter of the Week (May 19) during the final week of the regular season.
Wallner ranks fifth on the career charts for RBI (190), sixth in slugging percentage (.652), seventh in total bases (449) and first in walks (141). He enjoyed a season-high nine-game hitting streak late in the season, ending in the first LSU regional contest. He finished third in multi-hit games (17 two-hit, 5 three-hit, 1 four-hit) with 23 and first in multi-RBI games (9 two-RBI, 3 three-RBI, 3 four-RBI and 1 five-RBI) with 16.
Last week, Wallner became the highest-ever draft pick by a Southern Miss baseball player as the Minnesota Twins took him with the No. 39 pick overall in the Competitive Balance Round A, sandwiched between the first and second rounds.
Players Mentioned
OF/RHP
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