May 18, 2009

North Carolina’s Ackley named ACC Player of the Year | Georgia Tech’s McGuire named ACC Pitcher of Year
UVa.’s Hultzen top freshman | Florida State’s Martin named conference Coach of the Year for the sixth time

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina junior first baseman Dustin Ackley, who keyed the Tar Heels to an Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division title and a top-five national ranking, has been named the 2009 ACC Baseball Player of the Year.

Ackley headlines the 2009 All-ACC Baseball Team announced today by Commissioner John Swofford. Georgia Tech’s Deck McGuire is the ACC Pitcher of the Year, while Virginia pitcher/first baseman Danny Hultzen is the league’s Freshman of the Year. Florida State’s Mike Martin was named Coach of the Year. The honors were selected via a vote of the league’s head coaches.

Atlantic Division champion Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia led all schools in total selections to the 33-member team with five each. Virginia placed a league-high five players on the first team, while North Carolina and Georgia Tech placed three apiece.

Boston College, Miami, Georgia Tech and Virginia each saw four players selected overall, followed by Duke with three and Clemson, NC State and Virginia Tech with one apiece.

Ackley is hitting .405 on the year while leading the conference in hits (87), total bases (160) and tying for second in home runs with 17. All totaled, the Walnut Cove, N.C., native ranks among the ACC’s top three leaders in eight different offensive categories. With 322 career hits, he ranks just seven hits shy of breaking the North Carolina school record, and his 216 runs scored are five shy of another school career mark.

Georgia Tech’s McGuire (10-0) is one of just seven Yellow Jacket pitchers to post double-digit wins in a season this decade and the first to do so since Blake Wood won 11 in 2006. In addition to a 2.63 ERA in 13 appearances, the Richmond, Va. sophomore has struck out a league-high 101 opposing batters in 85.2 innings. McGuire, a big reason the Yellow Jackets joined North Carolina in top 10 of most national polls throughout the season, posted a 7-0 record in 10 ACC starts.

Hultzen proved a double threat for Virginia, making an impact on the mound and at the plate. The Bethesda, Md., native is hitting .331 with three home runs and 32 RBI. Hultzen’s impact may have been even greater as a starting pitcher, however, as he owns a 7-1 record to go with a 2.28 ERA in 11 starts. Hultzen posted a 5-1 record in ACC regular-season games.

After losing several key members from Florida State’s 2008 College World Series team, the Seminoles’ Martin saw his team post a modest 10-8 record through 18 games. But FSU (40-14) staged a remarkable turnaround, winning 30 of its final 36 regular-season games and claiming a third straight Atlantic Division crown. The Seminoles’ will enter this week’s ACC Baseball Championship at Durham, N.C., as the No. 1 overall seed.

The ACC Coach of the Year Award is the sixth for Martin, who has won 1,578 career games in his three decades guiding the Seminoles.