Dallas, TX – Winthrop senior left-handed-pitcher Parker Whittle has been named to the initial Watch List for the 19th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball, the association announced yesterday afternoon.
 
Last season Whittle was named a 2023 Big South All-Academic Team Honoree. He led the team in wins (8), striking out 44 batters, posted a 6.70 ERA in 43 innings pitched in 27 games played in relief. He had a season-high five strikeouts against Cincinnati at home on Mar. 14.
 
This year's watch list includes three 2023 Stopper of the Year finalists and 11 preseason NCBWA All-America selections.
 
The Southeastern Conference led the way with the most representatives with 12 players finding their names on the watch list. The Atlantic Coast Conference followed with 10, while the Big 12 and Big Ten each had six and the Pac-12 had five.
 
Of the initial 73 members, 12 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 16 different leagues.
 
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.