The College Baseball Foundation named Florida shortstop Brendan Lawson a top-50 semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award on Wednesday.
Named after former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980 and died of leukemia at age 27, the award honors the nation’s top shortstop. The award originally focused on the overall outstanding player, but shifted focus to shortstops in 2009.
“Narrowing our list to even 50 is a difficult task to take on as there are so many deserving shortstops at midseason,“ said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. “All these kids are piling up big offensive numbers with power. But just as important are the defensive skills and how well they field their position.”
Lawson is slashing .322/.533/.696 with a team-high 1.264 OPS and 11 home runs. He has scored 41 runs, driven in 34 runs, walked 43 times and stolen 10 bases over 37 games. Lawson leads the SEC in walks and on-base percentage and ranks third and ninth nationally in those categories, respectively.
What makes Lawson’s number even more impressive is that they come after a 10-for-52 slump over the last 16 games. Less than a month ago, Lawson was batting .409. He dealt with an illness during this down stretch and is hopeful to return to form down the stretch.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida SS Brendan Lawson on Brooks Wallace Award semifinalist list