FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas pitcher Kevin Kopps was named national player of the year Thursday by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Kopps, a reliever who has an NCAA-best 0.81 ERA in 66 1/3 innings this season, has factored into 20 decisions with 10 wins and 10 saves. He has struck out 105 and walked 15.
Kopps has allowed six runs in 28 appearances, and during one stretch recorded 28 consecutive scoreless innings. Teams are batting .161 against him, he ranks third nationally with a 0.78 WHIP and seventh with 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
Kopps was voted SEC pitcher of the year by league coaches and in May became the first player to earn consecutive national pitcher of the month awards from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.