May 26, 2009

TOWSON, Md. - Senior Hayden Johnston has been rewarded for a stellar final season at Ohio University by being named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Baseball Academic All-America Second Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Tuesday. Johnston is just the eighth Bobcat baseball player to ever be selected Academic All-America and the first to be named to the second team since 1991, when Mark Bradley garnered the honor. Ohio has had two players earn first-team academic accolades, as Terry Wenger did so in 1972 and Tim Pollack in 1977. Ryan Kyes was the last Bobcat baseball Academic All-America, as he made the third team in 2001.

Johnston (Strattanville, Pa.) is the only Mid-American Conference player to make the first or second team, while Eastern Michigan's Kyle Rhoad landed on the third team.

Johnston has a 3.69 grade point average and will be graduating with a degree in finance in June. He was named MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week March 26 and was placed on the Dean's List for fall and winter quarters of the 2008-09 school year.

Johnston, a 2009 Second-Team All-MAC selection, had a career season, setting career highs in nearly every offensive category, while starting all 53 games (one of just three Bobcats to do so). He led the MAC with 92 hits, breaking the Ohio single-season record and tying for eighth in MAC single-season history, while batting .393, which was fifth in the MAC. Johnston finished the year tied for the MAC lead with 25 doubles, second in Ohio history and tied for third in MAC history. He ranked second in the league (behind teammate Marc Krauss) and third on Ohio's single-season ledger with 164 total bases and tied for sixth in the MAC with 61 runs scored. His .701 slugging percentage was fifth in the conference and second on the team, as he belted 13 home runs (he had four in his first three years as a Bobcat) and four triples.

Johnston paced Ohio with 29 multi-hit games, including a career-best five-hit game May 21 when he hit his first grand slam as a Bobcat against Ball State in the MAC Tournament. He had two hitting streaks over 13 games during the year, including a career-long 14-game streak. Johnston also clubbed his first walk-off home run for the 'Cats May 15 to cap a comeback victory over Buffalo.

Johnston became eligible for the Academic All-America team when he was tabbed CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine First-Team Academic All-District IV earlier in May. To be eligible for the all-district/All-America teams, student-athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of their games, have been enrolled at their institution for at least a year and carry a 3.30 cumulative GPA or better. The teams are then voted on by members of CoSIDA.