Austin Named to the Stopper of the Year Watch List

DALLAS, Texas – Redshirt sophomore pitcher Cade Austin has been named to the initial watch list for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball, it was announced Thursday afternoon (Feb. 16).

Austin appeared in 27 games for the Gamecocks on the mound in 2022, going 5-3 with a team-best 3.17 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched. He had a pair of saves and a pair of starts in his first season of action. He was 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA in SEC games. He had 3.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts at Tennessee (March 19) and struck out four in three scoreless frames at Auburn (April 24). He earned a win at Florida (May 21), allowing an unearned run in three innings and had saves against Vanderbilt (March 26) and Missouri (April 1).

The Chapin native was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball last season.

The Southeastern Conference led the way with the most representatives with 17 players finding their names on the watch list. The Pac-12 Conference followed with nine, while the Atlantic Coast Conference had eight and the Big 12 Conference six.

Of the initial 81 members, 17 were featured on last year’s midseason watch list. In total, 21 conferences are represented on this list with at least two players coming from 15 different leagues.