CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri senior
Justin Dirden and junior
Tyler Wilber were named Academic All-District® by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday.
The 2020 Academic All-District® Baseball Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
Both Dirden and Wilber will graduate with their Bachelor degrees from SEMO this week.
Dirden is a General Studies major with a 3.30 cumulative grade point average as a Redhawk.
The O'Fallon, Missouri native was boasting a .900 slugging percentage and had gone 9-of-9 in stolen bases at the time the season ended. Dirden had a .414 batting average with 20 runs, 29 hits, nine home runs and 26 RBI. He also had three doubles, a pair of triples and eight walks. Dirden ranked second in the nation in home runs. Additionally, Dirden led the Ohio Valley Conference in hits, home runs, RBI and total bases (63), and was tied for first in stolen bases. He rated fifth in the OVC in batting average (.414) and second in runs scored.
For his SEMO career, Dirden notched 101 hits, 66 runs, 22 doubles, 25 home runs and 94 RBI. He also stole 18-of-20 bases, posted a .442 on-base percentage, .708 slugging percentage and .986 fielding percentage. Dirden was ranked the second Hottest Senior Hitter by DI Baseball on March 25 and was a Preseason All-OVC pic
Wilber is a Social Sciences major with a 3.80 GPA.
The Rossmoor, California native had a .406 batting average with 26 runs and 28 hits in 17 games. Wilber added nine doubles, 12 RBI and boasted a .696 slugging percentage.
In his career at SEMO, Wilber had 108 hits, 69 runs, 28 doubles, 52 RBI and a .388 batting average. He recorded a .484 on-base percentage and .572 slugging percentage, as well.
Earlier this year, Wilber was ranked ninth by DI Baseball among junior hitters. Prior to the 2020 campaign, Wilber was named a Third-Team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball.
Dirden and Wilber join fellow OVC players Jacob Abbott (EKU), Nick Howie (EKU) and Alex Webb (JSU) on this year's Academic All-District Teams.
Both Dirden and Wilber were selected first-team Academic All-District and will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. Academic All-Americans will be announced from June 8-11.
