Georgia State baseball’s Justin Malone was named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team was announced on Wednesday morning by Collegiate Baseball.

Malone was one of eight relief pitchers named to the squad. The native of Abingdon, Va., recorded seven saves in his first year with the Panthers, going 1-0 with a team best 1.46 ERA. In 26.2 innings of work, Malone struck out 23 batters. He held opponents to a team-best .216 batting average, while walking just six batters all season. He was also a part of both shutouts that the Panthers pitched during the 2009 season.

“I could not be happier for Justin being named a freshman all-american,” commented head coach Greg Frady.  “Throughout the season, he worked so hard and was so coachable to make the adjustments he needed to make. The way he prepared himself to pitch and function like an upperclassman all year long went a long way to helping us be as successful as we were. The fact that he was a closer in some high-pressure situations, says a lot about him as a player.”

The freshman stepped up big for the Panthers in the CAA Championship. Malone earned the victory in game one of the championship as Georgia State used a walk-off hit to secure the victory over Northeastern. He came back the next day to pitch the final 1.1 innings in a win over UNC Wilmington, recording his sixth save of the season. He then capitalized on the team’s momentum and recorded the final six outs against the Seahawks in the CAA Championship game, striking out Robbie Monday to record the final out and send the Panthers to their first-ever NCAA Regional.

The squad compiled by the staff of Collegiate Baseball, was headed by Collegiate Baseball's Freshman Pitcher of The Year, Trevor Bauer of UCLA, and Freshman Player of The Year, Anthony Rendon of Rice. Malone was the only pitcher from the CAA named to the squad.