Schmidt a Semifinalist for the 2006 Brooks Wallace Award

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.
– Arkansas starting pitcher Nick Schmidt was named a semifinalist on Monday for the 2006 Brooks Wallace Award given annually to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player by the National Collegiate Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas.

The left-handed Schmidt is 9-2 on the season with a 2.81 ERA and a .199 opponent batting average. He has six wins against top-25 competition this season and is second in the conference with 130 strikeouts. Schmidt also leads the league in strikeouts looking with 48 and ranks third in ERA. His 130 Ks are the second most in a single season by a Razorback pitcher in school history.

The Brooks Wallace Award is presented annually to the national college baseball player of the year. Alex Gordon of Nebraska was the winner of the 2005 Brooks Wallace Award. The selection committee will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals and make that announcement in Omaha on Thursday, June 15. The finalists, their head coaches and parents will be invited to Lubbock, where they will participate in a two-day celebration of college baseball on July 3-4.

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. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting with totals tabulated by the J.W. Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock, Texas.