LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Senior right fielder
Zac Wiley and sophomore left fielder/center fielder
Matt Higgins delivered two of the most dynamic seasons in the annals of Bellarmine University baseball and were central figures in a historic 2019 offense.
The connection between the two Knights has been strengthened even further, as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association recognized both outfielders as honorable-mention All-Americans, marking the first time in program history Bellarmine has had multiple players earn All-America notice in a season.
Wiley and Higgins are the program's eighth and ninth All-Americans, and first since Austin Crutcher in 2015. Patrick Brady and Michael Thompson's All-America careers crossed paths, but they were never acknowledged together — Brady sandwiched his 2008 and 2010 plaudits around Thompson's 2009 laurel.
Wiley and Higgins largely occupied Bellarmine's corner outfield slots, the established star in right and the rising star in left. In a 2019 campaign that ended with the Knights in their program-record third straight NCAA Midwest Regional, the duo earned widespread praise, sweeping first-team All-Midwest Region accolades from the NCBWA, Division II Conference Commissioners Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings after reaping first-team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference citations.
On top of those honors, Wiley was named Midwest Region Player of the Year by the NCBWA and D2CCA after being selected GLVC Player of the Year.
The All-America duo raided the program record book this season. Higgins set a new single-season record with 90 hits and tied the record for runs scored with 63. The Louisville native ranked third in RBIs (63), fifth in slugging percentage (.702), sixth in batting average (.419), tied for eighth in doubles (18) and tied for ninth in home runs (13).
Wiley was also prominent in the single-season records, ranking second in RBIs (65), fourth in runs scored (61), tying for fourth in doubles (20), fifth in hits (79) and tying for sixth in home runs (14) while batting .371. The Shelbyville, Kentucky, native departs the program ranked in the top eight in career homers (32, second), RBIs (170, second), hits (243, fourth), doubles (54, t-fourth), runs scored (156, t-fourth) and batting average (.359, eighth).
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