March 8, 2012
WICHITA, Kan. - Missouri State junior Luke Voit was one of 43 Division I catchers named to the official watch list for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced Wednesday.
The lone Missouri Valley Conference catcher named to this year's watch list, Voit is currently second on the Bears with 15 runs batted-in, ranking sixth in the Valley and 45th nationally. The 2011 All-MVC second-teamer leads MSU with three stolen bases and has a .991 fielding percentage while throwing out 46 percent of all would-be base-stealers on the season. Last year, the Wildwood, Mo., product batted .286 with six home runs and 35 runs batted-in, including a team-high eight game-winning RBIs.
Additional nominations for the award, which honors the top Division I player who serves as a team's starting catcher in at least 75% of its games, will be considered until May 7, with semifinalists announced on May 16, and finalists revealed on June 4. The award will be presented June 28, in Wichita. Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench presented his namesake award to James Madison catcher, Jake Lowery last June. Mike Zunino of Florida and Chris O'Brien of Wichita State were the other 2011 finalists for the award.
Currently riding a five-game win streak, Missouri State (10-3) will open a three-game weekend series with SIU Edwardsville Friday (March 9) at 3 p.m. at Hammons Field.
2012 Johnny Bench Award Watch List
Milan Adams - Sr. - Rhode Island
Will Allen - So. - Ole Miss
Bo Altobelli - Jr. - Texas Tech
Jimmy Best - Sr. - George Washington
Garrett Custons - Jr. - Air Force
Toby DeMello - Sr. - Saint Mary's College
Jeremy Dowdy - Sr. - Appalachian State
Josh Elander - Jr. - TCU
Carlos Escobar - Jr. - Nevada
Jacob Fisher - Sr. - Southeastern Louisiana
Zachary Fisher - Jr. - New Mexico State
Chris Forsten - Sr. - William and Mary
Brett Frantini - Sr. - Northern Illinois
Richard Gonzalez - Fr. - Alabama State
John Hale - Sr. - Sam Houston State
Jonathan Harris - Jr. - Gardner-Webb
Chris Hoo - So. - Cal Poly
Joe Hudson - Jr. - Notre Dame
Tyler Jones - Sr. - Long Island
Spencer Kieboom - Jr. - Clemson
Dan Klein - Sr. - Kansas State
Thor Meeks - Sr. - Marshall
Brad Moss - Sr. - Samford
Tom Murphy - Jr. - Buffalo
Peter O'Brien - Sr. - Miami (Fla.)
Joe Pavone - Sr.- Connecticut
Colton Plaia - Jr. - Loyola Marymount
Kevin Plaweck - Jr. - Purdue
David Roney - Sr. - Wofford
Tyler Ross - So. - LSU
Jake Saylor - Sr. - Cincinnati
Jeremy Schaffer - Sr. - Tulane
Ron Shaeffer - Sr. - UC Irvine
Dan Sheppard - Jr. - Iowa
Jacob Stallings - Sr. - North Carolina
Andrew Stumph - Jr. - Texas State
Alex Swim - Jr. - Elon
Steve Tkowski - Sr. - Holy Cross
Luke Voit - Jr. - Missouri State
J.T. Watkins - Sr. - Army
Matt Wollenzin - So. - Austin Peay State
Zach Wright - Sr. - East Carolina
Mike Zunino - Jr. - Florida
