LOS ANGELES – UCLA starting pitchers Ryan Garcia and Jack Ralston have both been selected as semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, it was announced today by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). The Dick Howser Trophy is awarded annually to college baseball's top player, as voted on by a national panel of writers, broadcasters, and publicists.
Ralston and Garcia were among eight starting pitchers on the 26-man semifinalist list. Garcia was announced as a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award on Tuesday.
As of May 15, Garcia is 7-0 on the year with a miniscule 1.27 ERA. He's struck out 82 batters in 64 innings, an average of 11.5 per nine innings.
Despite not making his first full start of the year until Mar. 24, Garcia has put together arguably the most impressive pitching resume in the Pac-12 this season. He paces the league by fairly wide margins in both ERA and batting average against (.161) and his 66 strikeouts in conference play lead all Pac-12 pitchers.
Ralston meanwhile has had one of top breakout seasons of the 2019 campaign, posting a 9-0 record and 2.34 ERA to this point of the year. Only three pitchers nationwide have a better won-lost record than the Newhall, Calif. native. Ralston is tied for the Pac-12 lead in victories and is also top-five in ERA (fourth) and strikeouts (78, fourth).
UCLA's Saturday starter enters the weekend with a 19-inning scoreless streak, last allowing a run on Apr. 27 to Utah. He is coming off two of the best starts of his career, limiting the high-octane Arizona State to just three hits over seven scoreless innings on May 4 before striking out a career-high 12 batters over seven shutout innings at Washington St. on May 11. Ralston is on the verge of becoming UCLA's first 10-game winner since James Kaprielian in 2015.
The finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy will be announced on June 6 and the winner will be unveiled on June 15 in Omaha on the opening day of the College World Series.
The Bruins host Washington this weekend in their final regular season home series of 2019. At 42-8 overall and 19-5 in league play, UCLA is in a three-way tie for first place in the Pac-12 with two weekends of conference action remaining.