Baseball's Messina Named a Buster Posey Award Semifinalist

WICHITA – University of South Carolina junior catcher Cole Messina has been named a Buster Posey Award semifinalist, the Wichita Sports Commission announced this morning (Wednesday, May 22).

Messina, who was an All-SEC second team selection, leads the Gamecocks with a .320 batting average to go along with 19 doubles, which is tied for third in the SEC, 18 home runs and 56 RBI. He is slugging .675 this season and has a .451 on-base percentage. Messina also leads the team with 56 runs scored. He was the SEC Player of the Week after going 9-for-14 with two home runs and seven runs scored in a series win over Missouri. In SEC play, Messina hit .330 with 12 doubles and 28 RBI.

The 16 finalists for the Buster Posey Award will be announced June 6. Those three catchers will be invited to Wichita, KS with the winner being announced June 26^th during the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet and Buster Posey Award presentation. The National Collegiate Catcher of Year Award was established in 2000.

Carolina faces Arkansas on day two of the 2024 SEC Tournament Wednesday afternoon (May 22) at approximately 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT).

BUSTER POSEY AWARD SEMIFINALISTS

Ethan Anderson, Junior, University of Virginia

Ariel Armas, Junior, San Diego University

Burke Camper, Senior, Utah Valley State

Ryan Campos, Junior, Arizona State University

Josh Caron, Junior, University of Nebraska

Connor Caskenette, Senior, Purdue University

Jacob Cozart, Junior, North Carolina State

Mac Guscette, Senior, University of Alabama

Brandon Heidal, Senior, Oakland University

Ike Irish, Sophomore, Auburn University

Walker Janek, Junior, Sam Houston State

Caleb Lomavita, Junior, California-Berkeley

Cole Messina, Junior, University of South Carolina

Malcolm Moore, Sophomore, Stanford University

Ryan Stafford, Junior, Cal Poly

Alex Stone, Senior, Duke University