University of Tennessee Athletics
Crnkovich Named to Clemens Award Watch List
March 05, 2008 | Baseball
Tennessee sophomore Steve Crnkovich was among 78 of the nation???s top college baseball pitchers named to the preliminary watch list for the fifth annual Roger Clemens Award, as announced Tuesday by the Greater Houston Baseball Association. The award is presented annually to the top pitcher in the college game.
This is the fourth straight season in which Tennessee has placed one of its pitchers on the Clemens Award watch list. Former Vol Luke Hochevar won the award in 2005 after recording 154 strikeouts and leading the NCAA with 15 wins.
Crnkovich (pronounced: SIRN-koh-vich) is a first-year Vol who transferred to UT from the University of Illinois-Chicago. As a true freshman starter for the Flames last season, the right-hander led the Horizon League with a 2.39 ERA.
In two starts for Tennessee this season, Crnkovich has posted a 2-0 record while fashioning a 2.03 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. Last Friday in Houston, he threw 6 1/3 solid innings while helping to lead the Vols to a 5-4 win over then-No.3-ranked Texas. His three-strikeout performance included a pair of Ks against Longhorns national player of the year candidate Kyle Russell.
The Southeastern Conference and the Pac 10 lead the way nationally with nine players included on the preliminary 2008 watch list. Additional candidates still can be added to the watch list based on performances throughout the coming weeks.
The finalists for the 2008 Roger Clemens Award will be selected via voting by a national panel that includes: all NCAA Division I head coaches, a selection of national media who cover college baseball and the 16 winners of the R.E. ???Bob??? Smith Award, which was presented to the top player in the country from 1988-2003. In addition, the 13 previous finalists for the Clemens Award also are issued ballots. The 2008 award will be presented this summer.
Previous winners of the Roger Clemens Award are Jered Weaver of Long Beach State (2004), Hochevar (2005), Andrew Miller of North Carolina (2006) and David Price of Vanderbilt (2007).
