April 24, 2012
Official release from the College Baseball Hall of Fame
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State baseball players Brady Rodgers and Trevor Williams have been named to the initial College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year Watch List, the College Baseball Foundation announced Tuesday.
The pair, which accounts for two of the four Pac-12 pitchers on the list, have won a combined 13 games this season and headline a pitching staff that ranks seventh in Division I in walks allowed per nine innings with 2.27. ASU is one of only eight schools to place two or more on the watch list and the West Coast leads all geographic areas with 12 players.
Rodgers, who is second in the Pac-12 with a 1.75 ERA and 77.1 innings pitched, began the season with 23 consecutive scoreless innings, which is sixth-best in school history. He is 13th in Division I with a 13 strikeout-to-walk ratio after collecting 57 strikeouts and only eight walks in 77.1 innings pitched. A native of Richmond, Texas, he has three complete games this season and went the distance in back-to-back games after allowing one earned run in a win over Cal on March 23 and giving up one earned run in a loss to Oregon on March 31.
Williams, a native of San Diego, Calif., has pitched 69.2 innings this season and is tied for first in the Pac-12 in wins with seven. His 2.20 ERA puts him in the top-10 in the conference and in 11 appearances this season, including 10 starts, he has given up 59 hits and 17 earned runs while striking out 30 and walking 10. Williams accepted an invitation to play for the Team USA Collegiate National Team this summer after garnering Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors as a reliever last year.
"The pitchers featured on this top 50 list have been dominant all season," said Justin Knowles, Pitcher of the Year Award co-chair. "They have impressive individual game statistics as well as season-long numbers that justify their inclusion on the list. I look forward to seeing how they finish the last month of the season." The winner of the Pitcher of the Year Award will be announced on June 30 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the annual College Baseball Night of Champions. The event features the presentation of numerous awards and the induction ceremony for this year's Hall of Fame class.
The Sun Devils are on the road again to face Washington State in a three-game Pac-12 series at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Wash. First pitch on April 27 is set for 5:30 p.m. (PT), while the game on April 28 is slated for 2 p.m. (PT) and the series finale on April 29 is set for 12 p.m. (PT). All three games will be broadcast live by Sun Devil Sports Network on The Fan AM 1060.