GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Penn State senior Jack Anderson (Evanston, Ill.) was one of 40 student-athletes named to the Midseason Watch List for the 12th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, the association announced Thursday.
(Photo courtesy of Penn State Athletics)
The award will be given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. Anderson is the Big Ten’s lone representative on the list.
Anderson entered the week leading the country with a 0.65 ERA in 41 1/3 innings pitched, and he leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth nationally with a career-high 10 saves, which is one shy of the school single-season record. Anderson also boasts a 4-1 record and his 22 appearances on the year rank second in the Big Ten and 22nd in the country.
The NCBWA will announce five finalists for the 2016 Stopper of the Year – the Division I national saves leader and four other relief pitching standouts – on Wednesday, June 8, prior to the start of NCAA Super Regional competition. The NCBWA’s All-America Committee will select the winner, with this year’s recipient to be announced during the 2016 College World Series.
Anderson was named to the NCBWA’s preseason watch list for the award and was also named to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame’s National Pitcher of the Year Award Watch List earlier in the week.
Texas hurler J. Brent Cox won the inaugural Stopper of the Year Award in 2005, with Don Czyz of Kansas claiming the honor in 2006 and Luke Prihoda of Sam Houston State winning it in 2007. Georgia’s Joshua Fields topped the field in 2008, San Diego State’s Addison Reed grabbed the honor in 2009 and Texas’ Chance Ruffin earned the honor in 2010. The Longhorns’ Corey Knebel won in 2011, with Southeastern Louisiana’s Stefan Lopez picking up the honor in 2012. UCLA’s Berg was crowned the winner in 2013, Louisville’s Nick Burdi took home the 2014 honor and Berg became the award’s first two-time winner in 2015.
The NCBWA, founded in 1962, presents the Dick Howser Trophy to the nation’s top player. It also selects All-America Teams for all Divisions, a Division I Freshman All-American team, Division I and III Players of the Week, Division I District Players of the Year and Division III Players of the Year.
Penn State will next host Maryland for a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.
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