Baseball

LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Kentucky sluggers Sean Coughlin and Collin Cowgill have been named to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list, released by the College Baseball Foundation. The Wallace Award is presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year.

Coughlin, a senior catcher, provided the Wildcats a powerful left-handed bat as he finished the 2006 season with 17 home runs and 55 RBI. The first-team preseason All-American batted .325 while leading Kentucky to the school?s first Southeastern Conference Championship.

Cowgill had a breakout season in his sophomore year, batting .298 and ripping 16 home runs. The junior finished the season with 61 RBI, good for sixth-best in school history. Cowgill will team with Antone DeJesus, one of the better defensive center fielders in all of college baseball, in the outfield.

Last season, Kentucky second baseman John Shelby was named to the preseason Wallace Award watch list. Shelby hit 18 home runs in 2006 and was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox.

The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by late May. Then the selection committee will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals, prior to the College World Series. The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport.

The award is dedicated to the memory of former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach Brooks Wallace.

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