Texas Tech baseball’s Josh Jung and Grant Little have been named semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) announced today.
The Dick Howser Trophy is awarded each season to the top player in collegiate baseball. It’s the second-straight year the Red Raiders have had two in the semifinalist pool, which is made up of 35 players from across the country. Last year, Steven Gingery and Hunter Hargrove were named to the semifinalist list. Jung & Little make up two of four Big 12 representatives in this year’s field.
Jung has started all 50 games this season for the Red Raiders at third base and leads the team in several offensive categories. He paces the squad in hits (80), RBI (69) and runs (57), while putting together a team-leading 27 multi-hit & 20 multi-RBI performances at the plate in 2018.
He also leads the Big 12 in batting average, hits, RBI, runs, total bases and on-base percentage heading into the final weekend of the regular season, helping Tech lead the conference in average. Jung has been named Big 12 Player of the Week twice and earned NCBWA Co-Hitter of the Week honors after hitting for the cycle on April 17 at New Mexico.
Little has also started all 50 games this year for Texas Tech, sitting just behind Jung with his offensive numbers. He’s had 71 hits this year, including 10 homers, to go with 60 RBI and 53 runs scored. He’s also recorded 20 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI bids, each ranking third on the squad.
Little earned Big 12 Player of the Week on April 16 after a 13 RBI weekend, which featured nine against Kansas State in the series opener. He hit two homers in that contest, while becoming just the third Red Raider in school history to record nine RBI in a game, joining the likes of John Grimes (1984) and Mike Bewley (1975) as the only Tech players to accomplish the feat.
The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager, who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball’s most prestigious award. Criteria for consideration of the trophy include performance on the field, leadership, moral character and courage, qualities that were exemplified by Dick Howser’s life.
This is the 32nd year of the Dick Howser Trophy. The finalists will be announced on Friday, June 8. The 2018 award will be presented at TD Ameritrade Stadium in downtown Omaha, the home of the College World Series. The winner will be unveiled on MLB Network on Friday, June 15, and a press conference with the winner will be held on Saturday, June 16, at 10 a.m., the opening day of the 2018 CWS.
The Red Raiders return to action for their final series of the regular season on May 17-19, traveling to Stillwater to take on No. 14 Oklahoma State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics Communications Department
