George Mason University senior shortstop Owen Clyne has been named to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list, according to an announcement from the College Baseball Foundation on Wednesday.
The Brooks Wallace Award is given annually to the top shortstop in college baseball. The award is named after Brooks Wallace, who played at Texas Tech between 1977 and 1980 before passing away from leukemia at age 27.
Clyne is one of 100 players nationwide to appear on the initial watch list. He currently leads the George Mason Patriots in several offensive categories, including batting average (.375), extra-base hits (5), total bases (24), on-base percentage (.468), and slugging percentage (.600). He also shares the team lead in hits (15), doubles (4), and runs scored (9) over the first ten games of the season. Clyne has maintained an eight-game hitting streak, which includes three multi-hit games. In a recent game against James Madison, where George Mason won 11-2, Clyne recorded three hits in four at-bats with two doubles and a triple. Defensively, he has been perfect through 38 fielding chances, holding a 1.000 fielding percentage and tallying 23 assists.
He is joined by Fordham’s Anthony Grabau and VCU’s Dante DeFranco as Atlantic 10 Conference representatives on this year’s initial watch list.
“The award honors the nation’s top shortstop and will be presented 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,” according to the College Baseball Foundation.
The Brooks Wallace Award is one of four national honors given by the College Baseball Foundation each year, alongside awards recognizing top performers as a two-way player, pitcher, and catcher.
