May 19, 2009

2009 Atlantic 10 Baseball All-Conference Teams

ST. LOUIS - The Atlantic 10 Conference announced today that Saint Louis senior shortstop Ryan Bennett (Kansas City, Mo./Rockhurst) has been selected the league's baseball Student-Athlete of the Year. In addition, freshman third baseman Zach Miller (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) was named to the A-10 All-Rookie team after a vote of the league's coaches.

Bennett, who is pursuing a master's degree in business administration after graduating last year with a bachelor's degree in business administration entrepreneurship, led the Billikens in batting average (.368), hits (77), doubles (16) and stolen bases (19). Named to the Watch List for the Brooks Wallace Award, which honors the nation's top shortstop, Bennett enjoyed a career-best 17-game hitting streak this season and was recently named a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first-team selection. His .345 career batting average ranks sixth on SLU's all-time list, and his 77 hits this year are tied for the fourth most in a single season at SLU.

Miller enjoyed one of the best seasons by a SLU freshman in school history. He accumulated 61 RBIs to lead the Atlantic 10 Conference and rank first in school history among freshmen, also tying for fifth all time. Miller ranks among the top five on the freshman list in runs (39, tied for fourth), hits (70, second), doubles (11, tied for fourth), triples (four, tied for second), total bases (119, first) and home runs (10, tied for third).

Bennett and Miller helped the Billikens post a 30-25 overall record and a 12-13 mark in A-10 play. SLU's 30 wins are tied for the second most in school history, matching the 1977 squad's win total and trailing only the 2006 club's 32 victories.