LUBBOCK, Texas – For a second straight season, the College Baseball Hall of Fame named Austin Peay State University shortstop Jon Jon Gazdar to the watch list for the 2024 Brooks Wallace Award, which honors the nation's top shortstop.

Gazdar, a Walnut Creek, California product, has been one of the key contributors to the Governors' incredible offensive year. He enters the regular season's final month ranked among the Atlantic Sun Conference's Top 3 in runs scored (3rd, 49), base hits (3rd, 65), and doubles (3rd, 15). Gazdar is batting .380 this season, second on the team behind Lyle Miller-Green, with a .460 on-base percentage that is third on the team.

However, Gazdar's eye at the plate is his strength. He is among the nation's toughest batters to strike out for a second consecutive year. The NCAA ranks him fourth nationally with a strikeout every 17.1 at-bats. D1Baseball.com concurs, with the Govs' shortstop ranked fourth with just five percent of his total plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.

Gazdar was the Atlantic Sun Conference's lone representative on the watch list, which included 100 shortstops from across Division I. The Wallace Award emphasizes the nation's best all-around shortstop, with defensive efficiency given as much weight as offensive ability.

The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.