Four PBC Baseball Players Named All-American; Wilkerson Player of the Year

CARY, N.C. – Four Peach Belt Conference baseball players have been named All-Americans by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). In addition, Augusta State’s Shannon Wilkerson was named the National Player of the Year. Joining Wilkerson on the All-America first team was USC Aiken’s Travis Howard. UNC Pembroke’s Matt McGovern was named second team while teammate Kevin Dietrich was named third team.

Wilkerson becomes the third PBC baseball player to be named the National Player of the Year, joining Columbus State’s Brandon O’Hearn in 1996 and Kennesaw State’s Jason Jones in 1999. The PBC has also had three ABCA National Pitchers of the Year with Kennesaw State’s Donnie Thomas in 1997, Francis Marion’s Dylan Owen in 2007 and CSU’s Korey Noles in 2008. USC Aiken’s Chad Jacobsen was named the national Player of the Year by Daktronics in 2008.

A junior rightfielder from Dacula, Ga., Wilkerson was previously named the ABCA Southeast Region Player-Of-The-Year and the Peach Belt Conference’s Player-Of-The-Year. Wilkerson enjoyed a monster season in 2009, leading the PBC in hitting (.441), slugging (.891), runs scored (82), hits (101), home runs (24) and triples (7). He also ranked second in the league in RBI with 82 and led ASU in on-base percentage and stolen bases. His 101 hits were the fourth-highest, single-season total in PBC history while his 24 homers rated as the third-highest mark in conference annals.

Wilkerson jacked three home runs, setting a PBC tournament record in the process, in ASU’s 12-11 loss to North Georgia in the conference tourney semifinals on Sunday, May 10. His 24 homers rank second to only Keith Hammond in Jaguar single-season history while his 82 RBI established a new school standard. The 24 homers is also the third-highest total in PBC history.

Howard, who was also named to the All-Peach Belt Conference first team as a designated hitter for USC Aiken, ended the 2009 season with 103 RBIs to tie Jason Jones’ (Kennesaw State) PBC record of 103 originally set in 1998. He led the nation in runs batted in and runs batted in per game. He is overall in the top 100 in NCAA Division II in 11 different offensive categories. Howard had an incredible 38 extra-base hits in the 2009 regular season, finishing the regular season with 19 home runs, 16 doubles and three triples. The power numbers helped Howard own a slugging percentage of .694.

McGovern, a second team selection, was 9-0 on the mound for UNC Pembroke this season, including a 7-0 mark against conference opponents. The junior from Ottawa, Canada, ranked third in the PBC with his 2.63 ERA in 75.1 innings pitched. He tossed two complete games, one of which was a shutout, while holding opponents to a .260 batting average and striking out 59. McGovern was 4-0 against nationally-ranked opponents and pitched seven or more innings in seven of his 12 appearances.

Dietrich, a Charlotte native and third team all-American, established new program bests for both hits (92) and home runs (16) in hitting .418 for the Braves this season with 68 RBI and 59 runs scored. Included in his numbers was team-bests in both multiple-hit (26) and multiple-RBI (20) outings, as well as 16 multiple-run (16) contests. He also finished his senior season with a perfect fielding percentage (1.000) in 107 total chances from his centerfield position.