Luke Lawrence a Brooks Wallace Semifinalist

Kentucky infielder Luke Lawrence has been named a Brooks Wallace Award semifinalist by the College Baseball Foundation. The top 50 shortstops in the country were selected based on both their offensive and defensive production this season.

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.

Lawrence, a senior from Evergreen Park, Illinois, has had a sensational season and continues to be one of the Wildcats’ most important players. Lawrence was forced to shortstop from second base after an opening day injury to Tyler Bell and filled in admirably. He also has played third base and recently returned to second base. Lawrence is batting .352 overall with a .951 OPS. He is second on the team in runs scored (36) and hits (51), third in doubles (9) and RBI (26), has 21 walks and leads the team with 14 hit by pitch. He’s also stolen 13 bases in 17 attempts. He is batting nearly .400 in Southeastern Conference games, which ranks fifth in the league.