Golden Spikes Award
As a junior in 2009, Ackley led the Tar Heels with a .399 batting average and 20 home runs, and became the second Tar Heel, following Chad Flack, to record 300 hits and 200 runs scored for the program. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year. Ackley earned All-America honors for the second straight season. He also was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation's top amateur baseball player, and on watch lists for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Brooks Wallace Award. He again won the S.H. Basnight Award. He again participated in the 2009 College World Series. He was a finalist for the 2009 Golden Spikes Award (behind Stephen Strasburg).