Arkansas Tech's Johnson Named All-America

Matt Johnson has become just the third Arkansas Tech baseball player to ever earn All-America honors.

Johnson, a senior center fielder from Grand Saline, Texas, was named to three different 2011 NCAA Division II All-America teams.

The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) all named Johnson to their All-America honor squads.

He had a batting average of .454 with nine home runs and 50 runs batted in during his second and final season as a Wonder Boy.

Johnson established new single-season Arkansas Tech records for base hits (99), runs scored (79), stolen bases (37), total bases (156) and longest hitting streak (34 consecutive games) in 2011.

As of the most recent update of the Gulf South Conference statistics on May 23, Johnson leads the GSC this season in batting average, slugging percentage (.716), on-base percentage (.506), runs scored, base hits, total bases and stolen bases.

He was named 2011 GSC West Division player of the year, and in so doing, he became the first and last Arkansas Tech baseball player to earn that award. Tech will move forward to the new NCAA Division II Great American Conference in fall 2011.

The ABCA, the NCBWA and CoSIDA all selected Johnson to their NCAA Division II All-South Region teams.

He earned a South Region Rawlings Gold Glove Award for his work in center field and was named a finalist for the Tino Martinez Award, which is presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division II baseball.

Johnson joins Tommy Hester (1976) and John Paul Davis (2001) as the only All-America baseball players in Arkansas Tech history. The Wonder Boys fielded their first baseball team in 1912.

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