Walsh a hit at UMass-Boston

In UMass-Boston's drive to the NCAA Division 3 College World Series, Newton North grad Ryan Walsh has put together the best offensive season in program history. On Thursday, the junior second baseman was named a third team All-American by D3baseball.com.

Walsh completes the circuit of regular season awards with his All-America selection after being named First Team All-Region by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association and a First Team All-Star by the Little East Conference. 

He has broken six UMass Boston records, while leading the Little East Conference in five categories and ranking among the top five in 13.  He also stands among the nation’s top 20 in four categories.  Walsh leads the league with a school-record 78 hits, 71 runs scored, 20 doubles, 59 runs batted in and 126 total bases, while ranking second with 31 stolen bases in 33 attempts.  He places fifth in all of Division 3 in runs, 11th in stolen bases, 14th in doubles and 18th in hits. 

His school-record mark for walks (30) ranks third among LEC leaders as does his .656 slugging percentage.  Walsh is hitting   .406 (78-192) for the seventh-highest batting average of all-time at UMass Boston and ranks fourth among league leaders and his assist total of 109 is also the fourth-highest in the league.  He also ranks fifth in the conference with eight home runs and a .494 on-base percentage.  He has showed tremendous plate discipline with 18 more walks than strikeouts and has fanned just 12 times in 231 plate appearances for a rate of just once every 19.3 plate appearances. 

Walsh has also been one of the best defensive players in the nation with just five errors in 217 chances for a .977 fielding mark in 47 games, while leading all conference middle infielders with 27 turned double plays.  The slick fielder has not committed a miscue in his last 71 chances, covering 16 games since April 29.  He put together a season-high 18-game hitting streak from April 24 to May 20 and has hit safely in 30 of his last 32 games, while maintaining a season batting average of at least .400 over the last 27 games.  He’s failed to get a hit in consecutive games just once this season and has reached base safely via a hit, walk or bases on balls in 107 of his last 109 games dating back to April 8, 2008.
  
Walsh has a .382 (194-508) career batting average, which is the highest in school history and one of eight career records the junior has broken this season along with 194 hits, 144 runs scored, 49 doubles, 290 total bases, 61 walks, 332 fielding assists and a .571 slugging percentage.  He also ranks second with 115 runs batted in and 59 stolen bases, while his total of 13 homers is the fifth-most in school annals.  He has played in 129 games to place fifth on the UMass Boston all-time list and has hit safely in all but 22 games of his career to contribute to an astounding .461 career on-base percentage.

UMass Boston is enjoying the greatest season in school history with a 32-15 record while winning its first-ever Little East Conference Tournament Championship and the NCAA Division 3 New England Regional crown.  The Beacons will take on 15th-ranked Linfield in first round of the College World Series on Friday at 2:15 p.m. EDT in Appleton, WI.