Zavala a semifinalist for Dick Howser Trophy

EUGENE – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has named Aaron Zavala on of 42 semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy honoring the top player in collegiate baseball.  
 
Zavala, a sophomore from Keizer, Ore., heads into this weekend's series against No. 17 Stanford batting .394 with seven home runs, 32 RBI and 50 runs scored, while boasting a .531 on-base percentage and a .638 slugging percentage. He leads the Ducks in batting average, runs, hits (63), slugging percentage, walks (43) and stolen bases (9). He needs to score just four more runs and walk six more times to set single-season records at Oregon in both categories.
 
Nationally, the Ducks' right fielder ranks fifth in the nation in OBP, 12th in base on balls, 14th in base on balls per game (0.96) and 25th in batting average. He leads the Pac-12 Conference in on-base percentage and base on balls, while ranking second in batting average and base on balls per game, fifth in slugging percentage, seventh in hits per game (1.40) and eighth in hits.
 
Zavala, who is just one of three Pac-12 players on the list of semifinalists, is only the third Oregon player ever to be a semifinalist and the first position player. Closer Jimmie Sherfy claimed semifinalist honors in 2013 and David Peterson earned the nod in 2017.
 
This is the 34th year of the Dick Howser Trophy. The finalists will be announced on Thursday, June 10. Due to COVID-19 protocols at TD Ameritrade Stadium in downtown Omaha, the home of the College World Series for the ninth year, the announcement of this year's winner will be done via Zoom. The winner will be unveiled on MLB Network and then, a press conference with the winner will be held after the announcement is made. The date and time for the announcement will be released in the near future.