KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee redshirt junior relief pitcher Redmond Walsh was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List Monday.
This year will be the 16th time that the NCBWA has given the award to the nation’s top reliever on the NCAA Division I level.
Walsh had a solid sophomore season in 2019 as he emerged as one of the Southeastern Conference’s top closers.
The left-handed pitcher recorded nine saves last season for the Volunteers, who went 40-21 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. Tennessee was 14-16 in the SEC in 2019.
Walsh, a graduate of nearby Alcoa High School, had four saves in SEC tilts last season, tying him for sixth in the league. He also had a pair of wins and recorded 48 strikeouts in 45.2 innings. Opponents hit a paltry .232 of him last year.
He had a 1.38 ERA in 2019, the lowest on Tennessee’s team. His career ERA is 1.56 and that’s the lowest of any of the Big Orange’s returning hurlers.
Walsh was named a second-team Preseason All-American last week by the NCBWA.