Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt senior reliever Zach Franklin was among 66 players named to the initial watch list for the 17th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.
 
Nominees were submitted by institution and conference publicity directors. The list was originally released back in mid-February.
 
Franklin has made 57 career appearances including four to date this season, tossing 148.1 career innings with 11 career victories including a team-leading, single-season best seven last spring. He has 152 career strikeouts to rank just outside the top 30 in WCU's career record books against just 67 walks with opponents batting just .239 against the hard-throwing right-hander. His eight career saves entering this season rank tied for 13th in the school ledgers. He paced the Catamounts the past two seasons with three saves in 2020 and two in 2021.
 
A product of Marion, N.C., Franklin is a four-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll recipient and is a two-time Academic All-SoCon selection.
 
Of the initial 66 pitchers on the list, 18 were featured on last year's midseason watch list. In total, 19 conference are represented on the list with at least two players coming from 13 different leagues. The Atlantic Coast Conference led the way with 11 nominees. Franklin was joined on the list by two other relievers from the Southern Conference including Matt Bollenbacher of ETSU and Dalton Rhadans of Wofford.
 
This year's initial list also includes 11 preseason NCBWA All-America selections including three first-teamers and one finalist from last year's award.
 
Western Carolina (5-7) is scheduled to open a five-game road swing on Wednesday afternoon as it travels to Clinton, S.C., to face Presbyterian with the first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. The Catamounts tackle Fluor Field in the 2022 First Pitch Invitational hosted by Michigan State this weekend. WCU faces Kansas (Fri., March 11), the host Spartans (Sat., March 12), and Cincinnati (Sun., March 13) in the trio of nonconference games.