UC Irvine senior Kyle Necke today was named to the 45-player midseason watch list for the sixth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.

Necke is 1-3 with five saves and a 3.81 earned run average for the Anteaters.  He has allowed just three walks and struck out 32 in 28.1 innings of work.  His five saves lead the Big West.  Necke has recorded saves against Loyola Marymount, Sacramento State and Gonzaga in non-conference play.  He also helped the Anteaters to a solid start in league action with a pair of saves in UCI's series sweep of Cal State Northridge.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the Division I national saves leader and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as finalists and released Wednesday, June 2, prior to start of NCAA regional tournament competition.  The NCBWA's All-America Committee then will select the winner, with this year's recipient to be announced on the opening day of the College World Series on June 19.

For the complete NCBWA release, please click on the link at the top of the page.





2010 NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST

PITCHER                SCHOOL                           YR
James Allen            Kansas State                     So.
Kevin Arico              Virginia                               Jr.
Billy Barber              Richmond                          Jr.
DJ Baxendale         Arkansas                            Fr.
Lance Baxter          South Alabama                   Sr.
Brett Bochy             Kansas                               Jr.
Russell Brewer       Vanderbilt                            Jr.
Andrew Burkett       Cincinnati                           Sr.
Garret Carruth        Texas State                        Sr.
Kevin Chapman      Florida                                Jr.
Adam Cimber         Washington                         Fr.
Adam Conley         Washington State               So.
Rye Davis              Western Kentucky               So.
Ryan Duke             Oklahoma                            Jr.
Austin Fleet            Coastal Carolina                  Fr.
Chris Franklin        Southeastern Louisiana       Sr.
Tyler Gebler           Rutgers                                Fr.
Dan Gentzler          Maryland                              Jr.
David Gutierrez      Miami (FL)                           Sr.
Matt Hauser           San Diego                            Sr.
Tom Heithoff           Evansville                            Sr.
Neil Holland           Louisville                               Jr.
Jon Ivie                  Belmont                                Jr.
Josh Janway          Southeastern Louisiana      So.
Chris Kaminski       Jacksonville                         Jr.
Dan Klein                UCLA                                  So.
Ben Rowen             Virginia Tech                        Sr.
Patrick Lawson       Charlotte                              Sr.
Drew Mahaffey       Citadel                                  Jr.
Kevin McKague      Army                                     Jr.
David McKnight      BYU                                      Jr.
Kevin Munson         James Madison                    Jr.
Kyle Necke            UC Irvine                             Sr.
Matty Ott                 LSU                                     So.
Chris Patterson       Appalachian State               Sr.
Brooks Pinckard      Baylor                                 So.
Nick Pepitone         Tulane                                  Jr.
Ryne Purcell           Eastern Kentucky                 Jr.
Chance Ruffin        Texas                                    Jr.
Gera Sanchez        New Mexico                         So.
Chad Sheppard      Northwestern State              So.
Seth Simmons        East Carolina                       Jr.
John Soldinger        Manhattan                           Fr.
John Stilson            Texas A&M                          So.
Jordan Swagerty     Arizona State                      So.