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The Wallace Watch
 
Purdue's Ryne White and Matt Bischoff are among an elite list of collegiate baseball players on the Wallace Award watch list for 2008.
 
 
 

 
Ryne White returns for the 2008 season as the reigning Big Ten batting champion
 
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Dec. 10, 2007

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Ryne White and Matt Bischoff were named to the initial Brooks Wallace Player of the Year watch list, giving the Purdue baseball program a head start on the 2008 baseball campaign.

The Wallace Award is presented to the nation's top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame's annual induction festivities. The 2008 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 3, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University.

White ranked third in the nation in 2007 with a .452 batting average. The first team All-Big Ten honoree led the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and hits - both for the overall season and the conference season.

Bischoff was the 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was named to two Freshman All-America teams. Bishoff became the first Boilermaker to claim an end-of-the-season honor from the Big Ten Conference after leading Purdue with a 2.85 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 60 innings.

"After a great fall baseball season, we can see that the talent level in college baseball will once again be great. We have several from last year's Wallace Watch that we will continue to follow, and we look forward to tracking the new additions as well", said Raymond Richardson, Chair of Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award Committee.

The initial watch list is comprised of nearly 225 of the top collegiate players coming from 151 of the 293 NCAA Division I baseball programs. A total of nine players from the Big Ten Conference are included on the list: Zach Putnam and Derek VanBuskirk of Michigan; Nate Hanson and Matt Nohelty of Minnesota; Jake Owens of Northwestern; Justin Miller of Ohio State; Drew O'Neil of Penn State; and Bischoff and White of Purdue.

Last year's Brooks Wallace award went to Vanderbilt pitcher, David Price. Price was the first overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft and is currently pitching in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. The 2006 winner was standout pitcher/designated hitter Brad Lincoln of Houston. Nebraska's Alex Gordon, now with the Kansas City Royals, took home the 2005 trophy. The inaugural award was given in 2004 to Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton, who is now catching for the Oakland A's.

 

 

The Wallace Award is a dedication to the memory of the former Texas Tech player and assistant coach Brooks Wallace. Wallace was a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977 to 1980. A four-year starter, he was named All-Southwest Conference and All-District his senior year. He led the Red Raiders to their first-ever appearance in the Southwest Conference Tournament in 1980. After playing two years in the Texas Rangers organization, he returned to Texas Tech and served as a graduate assistant and later as an assistant coach. In the summer of 1984, he was diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease courageously until his death on March 24, 1985, at age 27. The Plano, TX, native was married to the former Sandy Arnold and they had one daughter, Lindsay Ryan.
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