Florida SS Brendan Lawson a semifinalist for Brooks Wallace Award

The College Baseball Foundation named Florida shortstop Brendan Lawson a top-50 semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award on Wednesday. Named after former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980 and died of leukemia at age 27, the award honors the nation's top shortstop. The award originally focused on the overall outstanding player, but shifted focus to shortstops in 2009.

"Narrowing our list to even 50 is a difficult task to take on as there are so many deserving shortstops at midseason,“ said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. “All these kids are piling up big offensive numbers with power. But just as important are the defensive skills and how well they field their position.

” Lawson is slashing . 322/. 533/.

696 with a team-high 1. 264 OPS and 11 home runs. He has scored 41 runs, driven in 34 runs, walked 43 times and stolen 10 bases over 37 games.