LUBBOCK, Texas – The College Baseball Foundation announced the watch lists for three national awards recently, with several Southern Conference student-athletes among those recognized.

Six SoCon shortstops are among the 101 players on the initial watch list for the 2023 Brooks Wallace Award. The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.

The Citadel’s Sawyer Reeves, Mercer’s Trevor Austin, UNCG’s Zach Budzig, VMI’s Zac Morris, Western Carolina’s Pascanel Ferreras and Wofford’s Jack Renwick grace the initial watch list.

Ferreras, the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year, is among five players on the watch list who were semifinalists for the award last season.

Three SoCon pitchers are in contention for the College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Year award. The Citadel’s Cameron Reeves, Samford’s Jacob Cravey and Wofford’s Lucas Mahlstedt are among the 61 players on the watch list nationally.

The award will be presented later this year by the College Baseball Foundation.

Finally, UNCG’s Grant Aycock, Samford’s Blake Bortak and VMI’s Trey Morgan were named to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Watch List. The 47 players on the list mark the highest number of two-way players on the midseason watch list in the award’s history.

The award is named for former Washington State University standout John Olerud, who achieved success both as a first baseman and left-handed pitcher during the late 1980s. He was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. The award will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this summer.

The semifinalists for the Olerud Award will be announced in mid-May, with the five finalists being announced before the beginning of the NCAA tournament. The winner will be announced on June 15.