About
the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award The National Collegiate Baseball
Writers Association introduced the Stopper of the Year award in the 2005
season to honor the nation's top relief pitcher. Each year, the NCBWA announces
a preseason watch list and then updates the list in midseason. Before the
NCAA regionals, the association picks up to five finalists for the award.
The regular-season national saves leader is automatically chosen as a finalist.
2022 NCBWA Stopper of the Year key dates:
Thu., Feb. 17: Preseason Watch List
Wed., April 27: Midseason Watch List
Wed., June 8: Finalists
Fri., June 17: Winner announced (College World Series, Omaha, Neb.)
2021 Winner: Kevin Kopps,
Arkansas: A consensus All-America First-Team selection, the Dick
Howser Trophy winner, Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and Collegiate
Baseball magazine National Player of the Year, Kopps had a part in 23 of
Arkansas 50 wins in 2021, posting a 12-1 record with 11 saves. The right-hander
surrendered nine runs (all earned) on 50 hits, posting an 0.90 ERA, which
leads the country, heading into the College World Series. He struck out
131 batters, while walking just 18 in 89 2/3 innings and held opposing hitters
to a .162 composite batting average and paced the Razorbacks to a No. 1
national ranking throughout the regular season and the No. 1 overall seed
in the NCAA Baseball Championship.
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Arkansas' Kevin Kopps |
2019 Winner: Holden Powell,
UCLA A First-Team All-America selection by the NCBWA and a Pac-12
All-Conference performer as a sophomore, Powell boasted a 1.84 ERA with
a 4-3 record and notched 17 saves. His save total was second, both in the
nation this year and in the all-time UCLA single-season record book, trailing
only the NCAA-record 24 by David Berg in 2013. The Visalia, Calif., native
had a 20-inning streak without allowing an earned run from March 22 to May
5 and surrendered just four earned runs in his last 28 outings dating back
to March 18. He lowered his ERA from 4.76 to 1.84 during that span, and
has 65 strikeouts in just 49 innings. In all, he allowed just 12 runs (10
earned) while appearing in 40 games, third-most in the country.
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Florida's Michael Byrne |
2018 Winner: Michael
Byrne, Florida Byrne earned First-Team All-America honors from
the NCBWA to go along with All-Southeastern Conference first-team accolades.
Saving 15 games on the season in 34 appearances, Byrne helped his club to
a school-record fourth consecutive trip to the College World Series. A 14th-round
selection by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year
Player Draft, Byrne entered play in Omaha sporting a 3-1 record with a 1.59
ERA to go along with 60 strikeouts to five walks in 56.2 innings.
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Florida's Michael Byrne |
2017 Winner: Lincoln
Henzman, Louisville Henzman was selected in the fourth round
of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago White Sox. The right-hander
entered play in Omaha with 16 saves, which ranked second nationally. He
also owns a 3-0 record with a 1.77 ERA to go with 36 punch outs in 35.2
innings worked this season. Thirteen of the Lexington, Kentucky native's
16 saves came against ACC foes, while opposing hitters are batting just
.164 against him this season. His 16 saves are the third-most in a single-season
by a Louisville pitcher and his 19 career saves are the third-highest total
on the program's all-time charts.
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Louisville's Lincoln Henzman |
2016 Winner: Bryan Garcia,
Miami A sixth-round pick of the Detroit Tigers, the junior right-hander
has 18 saves second in the nation and a 2-0 record with a 1.95 ERA in
37 innings over 34 appearances. Garcia has allowed 25 hits and 17 walks
while striking out 54 batters, holding opponents to a .184 batting average.
He established the school's career saves record on May 26 at the ACC Championship
against NC State with his 40th save and has collected three more saves during
the NCAA Tournament.
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Miami's Bryan Garcia |
2015 Winner: David Berg,
UCLA A finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, Berg was named a
first-team All-American by the NCBWA, Louisville Slugger and D1Baseball.
He was a sixth-round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs and earned Pac-12 Pitcher
of the Year honors after posting 13 saves and a 7-1 record in 43 appearances,
notching a 0.68 ERA and allowing just 49 hits and eight walks over 66 2/3
innings while striking out 65 batters. Berg leads the nation in pitching
appearances, ranks second in ERA, seventh in WHIP (0.86) and strikeout-to-walk
ratio (8.13), and 10th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.08). He is one
of only three players ever to earn four first team All-Pac-12 honors and
contributed to the first no-hitter in UCLA history on May 15. Berg helped
UCLA earn the No. 1 national seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and the Bruins
reached the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final. He set the NCAA career record
for appearances with 175.
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UCLA's David Berg |
2014 Winner: Nick Burdi,
Louisville Burdi has put together a tremendous junior season,
in which he posted a 3-1 record with 18 saves and an 0.51 ERA. He became
Louisville's single-season saves leader after recording the final three
outs in a win over Kennesaw State that sent the Cardinals to the NCAA College
World Series for the second year in a row. In 30 appearances this year,
Burdi has registered 35.1 innings of work, allowing just four runs, two
earned, while opponents are hitting just .133 against the Cardinals' right-hander.
Burdi has posted 62 strikeouts to just 10 walks and has allowed just one
extra base hit all season. He enters the College World Series, having not
allowed a run in 10 straight relief appearances a span of 11.1 consecutive
scoreless innings.
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Louisville's Nick Burdi |
2013 Winner: David Berg,
UCLA Berg, the 2013 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, has posted a
record of 7-0 with 21 saves while currently leading the nation in ERA with
a 0.88 mark. Berg's 21 saves are also a new UCLA single-season record and
rank tied for second in all of Division I baseball, two shy of tying the
single-season NCAA Division I record. The right-hander has helped UCLA post
a current 44-17 overall record and a 21-9 record in the Pac-12 Conference.
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UCLA's David Berg |
2012 Winner: Stefan Lopez,
Southeastern Louisiana Lopez set Southeastern Louisiana's single-season
saves record in with 20 and holds the school record for career saves with
30. This season, he went 2-1 with an 0.61 ERA in 28 appearances. He pitched
29.1 innings and allowed just two earned runs on 19 hits with five walks
and 42 strikeouts.
Preseason Watch List |
Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
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Southeastern Louisiana's Stefan
Lopez |
2011 Winner: Corey Knebel,
Texas The freshman from Georgetown, Texas, set the Texas freshmen
record with 19 saves and was 3-2 with a 1.13 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 55.2
innings. He allowed just 28 hits and seven earned runs, while holding opponents
to a .151 batting average. With two saves in Super Regional play, he has
posted the most saves of any pitcher in the nation this season. In addition,
he has made 38 appearances, the most in the Big 12.
Preseason Watch List
| Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
|
Texas' Corel Knebel |
2010 Winner: Chance Ruffin,
Texas The junior from Austin, Texas, ranked second in the nation
with a microscopic 1.11 ERA, which was the Longhorns' lowest single-season
ERA since 1982 and fifth best all-time. He compiled a 6-1 record and 14
saves and fanned 97 batters in just 64.2 innings. Ruffin led the nation
and finished second on Texas' single-season list with 13.50 strikeouts
per nine innings. He also became the first Texas player to record 10 or
more wins in a season (2009) and 10 or more saves in a season (2010).
Preseason Watch List
| Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
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Texas' Chance Ruffin |
2009 Winner: Addison
Reed, San Diego State The sophomore from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.,
recorded a nation-leading 20 saves in 20 opportunities this season. He finished
the season with a microscopic 0.65 earned run average and 38 strikeouts
over his 27.2 innings of work. Reed has allowed only seven walks, with two
of those being intentional passes. Only one of the 20 hits he allowed in
2009 went for extra bases (a double vs. Nevada on Feb. 26). His save total
is a new San Diego State and Mountain West Conference season record, breaking
the old mark record of 17 set by Royce Ring during the 2002 season.
Preseason Watch List
| Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
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San Diego State's Addison Reed |
2008 Winner: Joshua Fields,
Georgia The senior right-hander from Hull, Ga., tallied 16 saves
and a 2-2 record with a 2.27 earned run average in 30 relief appearances.
The 2008 Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year registered 56 strikeouts
and held opposing hitters to a .112 average while preventing any of the
13 runners he inherited from scoring. Twelve of his 16 saves in 2008 came
against conference competition.
Preseason Watch List
| Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
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Georgia's Joshua Fields |
2007 Winner: Luke Prihoda,
Sam Houston State The senior right-hander from Weimar, Texas,
compiled a 7-3 record with a national-best 18 saves in 19 chances, while
posting a 1.62 ERA in 35 appearances. The Southland Conference Pitcher of
the Year and Southland Tournament Most Valuable Player, Prihoda struck out
65 and walked 11 in 72.2 innings of work and allowed just five of 35 inherited
runners to score. Preseason
Watch List | Midseason
Watch List | Finalists
|
Sam Houston State's Luke
Prihoda was the third winner of the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award |
2006 Winner: Don Czyz,
Kansas Czyz led the NCAA with in the regular season 19 saves
and finished the 2006 season with a 6-0 record and a 1.56 ERA while striking
out 60 batters in 63.1 innings. Czyz was the highest Jayhawk taken in the
draft since Brandon O'Neal was selected by the Anaheim Angels in the
sixth round of the 2000 draft.
Preseason Watch List
| Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
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Kansas' Don Czyz |
2005 Winner: J. Brent
Cox, Texas In the regular season, Cox was 7-2 with a 1.69 ERA
in 64.0 innings. He had 71 strikeouts against 16 walks in 34 appearances
this season. He held opponents to a .205 batting average and had combined
for five shutouts. Opponents had 47 hits, but scored only 14 runs (12 earned).
Take away six earned runs in an 8-7 win over Stanford on Feb. 19 and he
allowed only eight runs with six earned.
Preseason Watch List
| Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
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Texas' J. Brent Cox |
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