Biggers Named Brooks Wallace Award Semifinalist
LUBBOCK, Texas — Arkansas sophomore shortstop Jax Biggers was named as one of 13 semifinalists late last week for the 2017 Brooks Wallace Award by the College Baseball Foundation. The award honors the nation’s top shortstop and Biggers is one of two SEC players to make the list.
The winner will be announced this summer by the College Baseball Foundation at the 2017 College Baseball Hall of Fame’s Night of Champions and is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980, before dying from leukemia at the age of 27.
Biggers has burst onto the scene this season for the Razorbacks after spending one year at Cisco Junior College in Texas. The Missouri City, Texas native currently leads all Arkansas players in hitting with a .325 average, good for 15th in the SEC. He also leads the team with a .321 average in conference play with six extra-base hits, nine RBIs, and a .417 slugging percentage.
In six of his last seven games, Biggers has at least one hit, including a 2-for-4 game with a double and a run scored in the series opener against Vanderbilt last week. His 17 multi-hit games this year is tied for the second most on the team, just three behind Luke Bonfield, and he’s one of four Hogs with a four-hit game (vs. Louisiana Tech, March 1) to his resume.
Biggers’ batting average has him well on pace to be the first Razorback shortstop since Scott Hode in 2005 to hit over .300 in a season and he currently has the highest average of any primary shortstop in the SEC. In the field, the sophomore has only made four errors in 186 chances, good for a .978 fielding percentage and helped turn 26 double plays.
Arkansas travels to College Station, Texas to face Texas A&M for its final series of the regular season starting on Thursday at Blue Bell Park. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+. Game two will be on Friday, also at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+, while Saturday’s finale will be on the SEC Network at 11 a.m.
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