2018 Baseball Roster
Roster
Matt Wallner
- Height:
- 6-5
- Weight:
- 220
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Forest Lake, Minn.
- High School:
- Forest Lake HS
2019 (Jr.): Chosen with the No. 39 pick in the Competitive Balance Round A, sandwiched between the first and second rounds, to become the highest Golden Eagle ever choseni n the draft...Was the first Golden Eagle taken by the Twins since Tyler Koelling was chosen in the 19th round in 2011...Former Golden Eagle Brian Dozier was the only other Southern Miss player ever to be taken by the Twins, earning an 8th-round selection in 2009 and played with parent club from 2012-2018...The previous highest Golden Eagle pick was Tommy Davis at No. 54 in the 1994 draft by the Baltimore Orioles...Likely the most decorated Southern Miss baseball player in its history, having played in all 189 games over this three-year career for the Golden Eagles, making 188 starts (10 in leftfield, 93 in centerfield, 67 in rightfield and 18 at designated hitter including once as both DH/P)…Named a co-captain for the year by his teammates…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 for the most in a single season at the school…Became the school’s career home run king with 54 on the final day of the regular season with a pair of homers versus UAB (5/18)…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…Finished the season by hitting eight homers over his final 11 games…Named a member of the Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team, leading the Golden Eagles to the championship round against LSU…Hit .308 (4x13) in the regional with two home runs and six RBI…Named MVP of the C-USA Tournament on the strength of a .438 average (7x16) by hitting in four-straight games with two homers and four RBI, including 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…Named C-USA Hitter of the Week (May 19) during the final week of the regular season…Ranks fifth on the career charts for RBI (190), sixth in slugging percentage (.652), seventh in total bases (449) and first in walks (141)…Enjoyed a season-high nine-game hitting streak late in the season, ending in the first LSU regional contest…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…Named consensus preseason All-America pick by Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game D1Baseball.com and Baseball America…Voted preseason Conference USA Player of the Year by the league’s 12 coaches…Awarded Athletic Director Honor status for the 2018 Fall semester…2018 (So.): Was one of three Golden Eagles to play and start in all 62 games…Posted a .351 batting average with 13 doubles, along with team highs of 16 home runs and 67 RBI…Added 48 walks for an on-base percentage of .474, while his slugging percentage was at .618…Earned All-American honors by multiple organizations following the 2018 spring campaign, including a second-team accolade by the NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) in the outfield and was a third-team selection at designated hitter by D1Baseball.com as well as a third-team pick by the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association)…Blasted a team-best three grand slams during the year, all coming over a six-game span, including back-to-back games versus Rice (4/1) and Louisiana-Lafayette (4/3)…Tied for first on the squad for multi-hit contests with 25 (20-2H, 4-3H, 1-4H) and had 15 multi-RBI affairs (8-2RBI, 5-4RBI, 2-5RBI)…Enjoyed a reached base streak during the season of 52 games…Collected his best hitting streak of nine games from April 8-21, hitting .457 (16x35) with two doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI…Went hitless only three times over a 26-game span from March 24-April 21…Produced 11 multi-hit games during that stretch…Named to the C-USA All-Tournament team on the strength of a .421 average (8x19) with three homers and seven RBI…Knocked in career-best five runs against Florida Atlantic (3/25) and Louisiana Tech (5/12)…Blasted his only two homer game of the year in that LA Tech contest…Walked 48 times…Recorded a 1-0 record with six saves over 12 appearances…Threw 14 2/3 frames, including a season-high four in start at Marshall (5/19) in which he did not collect a decision…Fanned 16 and walked four…Played in four games with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, before joining the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod League in which he batted .250 with two doubles, four home runs and 11 RBI over 23 games…Selected preseason All-American by D1Baseball.com (first team), Collegiate Baseball (second team), Perfect Game (second team) and Baseball America (third team)…Tabbed C-USA Preseason Player of the Year…Garnered C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll…Earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the Spring 2018 and Fall 2017 semesters…2017 (Fr.): Picked as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Freshman Hitter of the Year, while D1Baseball.com and Baseball America tab him their national Freshman of the Year…Earned All-America honors by the NCBWA (first team), D1Baseball.com (first team), Baseball America (second team), Perfect Game/Rawlings (second team), ABCA/Rawlings (third team)…Placed first on the ABCA/Rawlings All-South region first team…Named Conference USA Freshman of Year, to the league’s All-Freshman team and was a second-team all-league pick…Voted to 2017 C-USA All-Tournament team…Second Golden Eagle ever invited to USA Baseball Collegiate Training Camp…Played in all 66 games and starts in 65 contests (53 in outfield, 12 as designated hitter)…Batted 336 on the season…Tied for 10th most home runs in a season at the school with 19 home runs, to go along with a .655 slugging percentage…Finished second with 63 RBI, .463 on-base percentage tied for second in walks with 45 and third in hits with 79 hits…Added 56 runs, 14 doubles and two triples…His 19 home runs were one shy of conference record for freshman, and his home runs and RBIs set new school marks for a freshman…Hit a double off the center-field wall at Taylor Park in his first collegiate at-bat…Added 14 multi-run games with career-high three runs, three times at Louisiana-Lafayette (3/5), versus Columbia (3/15) and versus Charlotte (5/27, G2)…Collected 26 multi-hit games including a season-high three hits three times coming against Northeastern (2/18), UAB (5/13) and Charlotte (5/27, G2)…Tallied a team-best 18 multi-RBI games; season-high four RBIs, twice, versus FIU (4/7) and Old Dominion (4/22)…Hit two home runs vs. Marshall (3/24)…Had longest hitting streak of 12 games (3/24-4/9)…Reached base streak stretched to 37 games at one point during the campaign…Also made nine appearances as pitcher...Finished 2-0 with 1.84 ERA and three saves…First career win came after two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief vs. Evansville (2/24)…Went a career-long 4 2/3 innings, career-high seven strikeouts to earn second win at Louisiana-Lafayette (3/5)…Earned first career save with three innings at Louisiana Tech (3/17)…Collected saves versus Mississippi State (3/21) and South Alabama (3/28)…Allowed three earned runs on eight hits in 14 2/3 innings; walked seven, struck out 15…Named to the 2017 Spring semester and 2016 Fall semester Athletic Director’s Honor Roll…Prep: Played for Coach Tal Gravelle…Originally signed with University of North Dakota before that school disbanded its baseball program…Became first players drafted from his high school in at least 15 years when Minnesota Twins took him in 32nd round…All-State selection…St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press East Metro player of the year…Two-year All-Suburban East Conference…Three-year baseball letterman…As a senior, went 7-1 with 0.95 ERA and 95 strikeouts…Hit .382 with 10 home runs; of his 29 hits, 18 went for extra bases…Played in Minnesota Lions All-Star Game…Two-year basketball letterman…Personal: Son of Maggie and John Wallner…Majoring in Finance.
