DALLAS – Missouri State senior second baseman Nick Rodriguez was named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy on Tuesday, given annually to the top college baseball player in the nation as voted on by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
 
Rodriguez is one of 67 semifinalists nationally and one of two representatives from the Missouri Valley Conference on the list. He is the first Bear to make the list since Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman were recognized in 2017.
 
Rodriguez is in the midst of a record-breaking season for the Bears, batting .369 and slugging .729 with 22 doubles, 17 home runs and 54 RBIs entering this week's series at Murray State, which will determine the MVC regular season champion.
 
The Tampa, Fla., native ranks among the national leaders in doubles (8^th – 22), total bases (14^th – 148), home runs (24^th – 17), slugging % (29^th - .729), hits (33^rd – 75) and runs scored (42^nd – 60).
 
The senior broke the school record hitting streak earlier this month, which remains active at 36 games, tying for the second-longest in MVC history based on available data. Additionally, his 2025 totals of 22 doubles (4^th) and 39 extra-base hits (7^th) rank among the top seasons in MoState history.
 
The Howser Trophy finalists will be announced June 7, and the winner will be unveiled on MLB Network in a special national presentation at 9:30 a.m. (Central) on June 13.

The Dick Howser Trophy, presented by The Game Headwear, is given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987. The trophy is regarded as baseball's most prestigious award. Criteria for consideration of the trophy include performance on the field, leadership, moral character and courage – all qualities that were exemplified by Dick Howser's life.

The Howser Trophy was created in 1987, shortly after Howser's death. Previous winners of the Howser Trophy are Mike Fiore, Miami, 1987; Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State, 1988; Scott Bryant, Texas, 1989; Alex Fernandez, Miami-Dade Community College South, 1990; Frank Rodriguez, Howard College (Texas), 1991; Brooks Kieschnick, Texas, 1992 and 1993; Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech, 1994; Todd Helton, Tennessee, 1995; Kris Benson, Clemson, 1996; J. D. Drew, Florida State, 1997; Eddy Furniss, LSU, 1998; Jason Jennings, Baylor, 1999; Mark Teixeira, Georgia Tech, 2000; Mark Prior, P, USC, 2001, Khalil Greene, SS, Clemson, 2002; Rickie Weeks, 2B, Southern U., 2003; Jered Weaver, P, Long Beach State, 2004; Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska, 2005; Brad Lincoln, P/DH, Houston, 2006; David Price, P, Vanderbilt, 2007; Buster Posey, C, Florida State, 2008; Stephen Strasburg, P, San Diego State, 2009; Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice, 2010; Taylor Jungmann, P, Texas, 2011; Mike Zunino, C, Florida, 2012; Kris Bryant, 3B, San Diego, 2013; A.J. Reed, P/1B, Kentucky, 2014; Andrew Benintendi, OF, Arkansas, 2015; Seth Beer, OF, Clemson, 2016, Brendan McKay, P/1B, Louisville, 2017, Brady Singer, SP, Florida, 2018, Adley Rutschman, C, Oregon 2019; Kevin Kopps, RP, Arkansas, 2021; Ivan Melendez, 1B, Texas, 2022; Paul Skenes, P, LSU, 2023; and Charlie Condon, 1B-3B, Georgia, 2024.