FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ Kevin Kopps was named national pitcher of the month for April by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday.
Kopps, a right hander, pitched 9 times and allowed 2 runs in 22 1/3 innings in April. He struck out 42 batters, walked 5 and opponents hit .162 against him.
All of his April appearances came against SEC teams, including three appearances against Auburn and two appearances against Ole Miss and South Carolina. He also pitched once against Texas A&M and LSU during April. A second appearance during the LSU series came on the first day of May.
Kopps earned two wins and four saves in April. He pitched at least four innings in each of the Razorbacks’ weekend series.
Kopps enters the final month of the regular season with an NCAA-best ERA of 0.85. In SEC games, Kopps’ ERA is 0.55 and he enters this weekend’s series against Georgia with a scoreless streak of 14 1/3 innings.
The NCBWA listed Kopps as one of 65 candidates for the Stopper of the Year Award last month. That award is given to college baseball’s best relief pitcher.
Oklahoma State's Christian Encarnacion-Strand was the NCBWA's hitter of the month for April. The Cowboys' third baseman batted .458 (27 for 59) with 7 home runs and 30 RBI in 15 games.