LEXINGTON, Ky. — Sawyer Carroll and Collin Cowgill have been named to the Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year updated Watch List, which was narrowed to a list of 100 candidates throughout the nation, it was announced Monday morning.
Carroll?s appearance is his first on the Brooks Wallace Watch List, as Cowgill has been on the listing since the preseason. Carroll and Cowgill are also members of the Dick Howser and USA Baseball Golden Spikes National Player of the Year Watch Lists.
The two outfielders have formed one of the top offensive duos in all of college baseball, with Carroll ranking as the league leader in batting average (.413), while ranking in the top 10 in the SEC in seven offensive categories. Carroll ranks third in the SEC in slugging (.726), fifth in on-base percentage (.498), fourth in hits (74), second in RBI (64), seventh in doubles (16), 10th in home runs (12), and third in total bases (130). Cowgill check in the top 10 in nine offensive categories, including batting average (.365), third in slugging (.725), sixth in on-base percentage (.491), second in runs scored (62), second in RBI (48), fourth in homers (16), fourth in total bases (129), third in walks (37) and fifth in stolen bases (17).
Carroll, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-fielder, emerged as one of the top college players in the nation early in the season, earning National and SEC Player of the Week honors after cranking homers in four consecutive games. Carroll hit .350 with 23 doubles, three homers and 56 RBI as a first-year junior in 2007.
Cowgill, UK?s five-tool centerfielder, returned to the lineup after redshirting the 2007 season due to a wrist injury. Cowgill, who helped lead the Wildcats to the SEC Championship in 2006 with a .298, 16 homer, 61 RBI season, returned to health during the summer. Cowgill earned Cape Cod League All-Star honors while leading his team to the league championship, hitting .290 with four doubles, four triples, two homers and 20 RBI. An incredibly tough athlete, Cowgill has started all 48 games in centerfield this season despite battling through a hamstring injury late in the season.
The UK duo are two of nine SEC players chosen to the listing, joining Aaron Murphree (Arkansas), Josh Adams (Florida), Josh Fields (Georgia), Gordon Beckham (Georgia), Matt Clark (LSU), Scott Bittle (Ole Miss), Reese Havens (S. Carolina) and Justin Smoak (S. Carolina).
Last year, Vanderbilt southpaw David Price, the eventual No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick in 2007, was the Wallace Award winner. The 2008 award selection committee will narrow the watch list throughout the season, with three finalists invited to the 2008 award banquet on July 2.
