• Complete Stopper of tthe Year Watch List
Six OVC baseball players were among 104 players nationally named to the initial 2026 Watch List for the 21st Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.
The selections included Little Rock graduate
Hunter Royal, senior
Preston Davis and junior
Gage Haley, Eastern Illinois senior
Nate Marshall, Lindenwood senior
Easton Rakers and Tennessee Tech senior
Reece McDuffie.
The NCBWA, founded in 1962, presents the Dick Howser Trophy to the nation's top player and the Mike Martin National Coach of the Year to the nation's top coach. It also selects All-America Teams for all Divisions, a Division I Freshman All-American team, Division I, II and III Players of the Week and Division I, II and III Players of the Year.
OVC Players on Stopper of the Year Watch List
Preston Davis, Little Rock
Gage Haley, Little Rock
Nate Marshall, Eastern Illinois
Reece McDuffie, Tennessee Tech
Easton Rakers, Lindenwood
Hunter Royal, Little Rock