University Park, Pa. — Following a sensational junior season, Penn State baseball catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) was recognized on Thursday by being named to the Louisville Slugger All-America Second Team as chosen by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Penn State’s first All-American since 2002, Heath enjoyed a historic season with a school-record 19 home runs along with 57 RBI and a .369 batting average. He was recently named First Team All-Big Ten while also cracking the Dick Howser Trophy and Johnny Bench Award semifinal lists.
Heath is one of only three players from the Big Ten on the All-America squad, joining Ohio State pitcher Alex Wimmers and Indiana outfielder Alex Dickerson.
One of the nation’s top performers this season, Heath is one of only players – along with Miami’s Yasmani Grandal – named a Louisville Slugger All-American, Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist and Johnny Bench Award semifinalist. The Howser Trophy, the "Heisman Trophy" of baseball, is presented to the top player in the country. The semifinal list currently consists of only 25 players with three finalists set to be named on June 10.
On May 14, Heath hit his 18th home run off the season off Minnesota ace Seth Rosin to break the 32-year Penn State single-season mark held by Dave Simononis, this coming in his first at-bat at the historic Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Overall, he homered against three Big Ten aces – also Matt Bischoff (Purdue) and Alan Oaks (Michigan). The Nittany Lion cleanup hitter finished with four multi-home run games on the season, tied for first in the nation.
Heath finished the season as the team leader in most every statistical category: average (.369), home runs (19), RBI (57), runs scored (53), doubles (16), extra-base hits (36), total bases (148) and slugging percentage (.747). The North Carolina native was also rated the No. 3 catcher in the nation on Rivals.com weekly power rankings, only trailing Grandal and LSU’s Micah Gibbs.
In 24 Big Ten games, Heath batted .400 with an incredible 1.306 OPS (.495 on-base percentage and .811 slugging percentage). He also posted a 19-game hitting streak, tied for fourth in school history, while also reaching base safely in a team-high 26 straight games. In total, he reached base in 49 of his 51 games, including all 24 in conference play.
Heath is currently preparing for the Major League Baseball Entry Draft, which is scheduled for next Monday and runs until Wednesday.