Bruins Shortstop Earns Another Top Honor

The awards just keep on coming for UCLA Bruins shortstop Roch Cholowsky.

In the same week where he was named a finalist for both the Brooks Wallace Award and Dick Howser Trophy, Cholowsky was named the District 9 Player of the Year by the National College Baseball Writers Association.

The District 9 Player of the Year Award is given to the most outstanding player in the district comprised of California, Oregon, Washington, Hawai'i, Arizona and Alaska.

Along with the three awards the sophomore shortstop won or was named a finalist for, Cholowsky became the first Bruin to win both the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year this season.

UCLA, led by Cholowsky, is gearing up to take on UTSA in the Los Angeles Super Regional and is boasting a 45-16 overall record on the season, the most games the Bruins have won since 2019, which was their last time making a supers appearance.

According to UCLA Athletics, Cholowsky led all Division I hitters in WAR with a 5.85 mark. He hit 23 home runs and 71 RBIs while putting up a .370 batting average on the season. He also led the Big Ten in OPS (1.261) and slugging percentage (.761).

The sophomore standout is awaiting the announcement on both the Brooks Wallace Award and Dick Howser Trophy.

The Brooks Wallace award winner will be announced on Friday, June 13. The Dick Howser Trophy winner will be announced on the same day on MLB Network ahead of the Men's College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

The No. 15 seeded Bruins cruised their way through regional bracket play, going 3-0 and defeating Fresno State, Arizona State and UC Irvine by a combined 24 runs. Their postseason opener against the Bulldogs was a 19-4 statement win.

UCLA takes on the UTSA Roadrunners, who upset the No. 2 team in the nation, Texas, in the Austion Regional. Not only did the Roadrunners upset them once, they beat them twice. UTSA is on quite the Cinderella story and will be appearing it its first super regionals in program history.

In a stroke of luck, UTSA's upset over the Longhorns means the Bruins will host the Super Regional series in Westwood at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Game one of the best-of-three series is on Saturday, June 7, at 4 p.m. PT on ESPNU.

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