The University of Mississippi Athletics
Coghlan Named To Wallace Award Preseason Watch List
11/21/2005 | Baseball
Nov. 21, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss third baseman Chris Coghlan was one of 12 Southeastern Conference players named to the 2006 Wallace Award preseason watch list on Monday. The award, which is presented by the College Baseball Foundation, honors the nation's college baseball player of the year.
Coghlan returns to lead the Rebels in 2006 after helping Ole Miss to a Southeastern Conference Western Division Championship, an NCAA Regional Championship and the program's first-ever Super Regional in 2005. Ole Miss also won a school-record 48 wins, the most ever in a single season by a Rebel baseball team.
"This is certainly a tremendous honor for Chris Coghlan, but it is an honor he is very deserving of as a player," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "Chris has been outstanding for us the past two seasons as a starter. Not only has he shown his skill with us, but he has led the Central Illinois League and Cape Cod League in hitting each of the last two summers. He is definitely one of the top prospects in the country."
Last season, Coghlan hit .364, the second best of any returning player this season, as he notched six home runs and drove in 57 RBI. He also scored 66 runs, while legging out 22 doubles and a triple on the year.
The third baseman from Palm Harbor, Fla., was also a part of anchoring a solid Rebel defense that finished 10th in the nation and led the Southeastern Conference in fielding percentage at .974 on the year.
Coghlan was also rated statistically as one of the 100 toughest players to strike out in the nation last season with 22 strikeouts in 272 at bats.
The Wallace Watch list will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists in late May. The selection committee will then narrow the list to three following Super Regional play and announce the three finalists at a press conference in Omaha. The finalists, head coach and parents will then be invited to an award banquet in Lubbock, Texas, to be televised nationally by Fox Sports Network.
Coghlan and the Rebels will begin the season on February 17, when Ole Miss will host Saint Louis in a three-game series in Oxford.