Dustin Ackley

From BR Bullpen

Dustin Michael Ackley

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 1", Weight 184 lb.

School University of North Carolina
High Schools North Forsyth High School, South Stokes High School

Born February 26, 1988 in Winston-Salem, NC USA

Dustin Ackley was the second pick in the 2009 amateur draft. His father John Ackley reached AAA.

Ackley was named All-American by Louisville Slugger as a high school senior.

Dustin emerged as a superstar as a college freshman, hitting .402/.448/.591 and batting .442 entering the ACC title game before a late-season slump. He set the UNC record in hits (119), leading all of NCAA Division I in the process. He tied Yonder Alonso and Brandon Waring for 8th in NCAA Division I with 74 RBI, tying Alonso for the Atlantic Coast Conference lead. He was second in the ACC in average behind Tony Thomas. He hit homers in both semifinal wins of the 2007 College World Series against Rice University. Overall, he had 3 homers and 8 RBI in the Series, in which UNC finished second. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at first base. He was named the ACC Freshman of the Year, was chosen to the All-ACC team at first base, was picked as Baseball America Freshman of the Year and was named a third-team All-American by Baseball America, the American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball. Brett Wallace and Alonso were the more-honored first basemen.

In the summer, Dustin batted .415/.586/.707 in 12 games for the harwich Mariners before elbow surgery ended his season in the Cape Cod League.

As a sophomore, Ackley batted .417/.503/.597 and set a UNC record with 82 runs. He was named third-team All-American at first base by Baseball America (behind Justin Smoak and David Cooper) and Collegiate Baseball. He was second-team All-ACC behind Smoak. He became the first UNC player to top .400 twice and was second in the ACC in average (behind Buster Posey) and hits (116, 3 behind Posey). He hit .522 in the 2008 College World Series and was again chosen for the All-Tournament team.

In 2009, the junior was hitting .412 with 22 homers entering the 2009 College World Series, leading the ACC in average, homers and slugging and setting a UNC record in total bases. He was picked as a consensus All-American and was UNC's all-time leader in average, hits, runs and total bases. The Seattle Mariners picked him second overall in the 2009 amateur draft, following Stephen Strasburg; he was the first UNC player to go that high since Paul Shuey in the 1992 amateur draft. Ackley was 8 for 16 in the 2009 College World Series; his 28 career hits in College World Series play broke Sam Fuld's record. He made the All-Tournament team was once again.