Southern Miss pitcher Nick Sandlin named Ferriss Trophy winner

Southern Miss junior pitcher Nick Sandlin took home the C Spire Ferriss Trophy as the top college baseball player in Mississippi.

The award was presented during a luncheon held Monday at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in Jackson.

The Evans, Georgia, native is 8-0 with a 1.25 ERA in 13 games this season. He has 122 strikeouts and only 14 walks in 86 1/3 innings. Batters are hitting just .156 against him.

Sandlin has a career ERA of 1.86 and a record of 21-5 in 68 appearances, only 13 of which are starts. He also has 20 career saves, making him the only USM pitcher with at least 20 wins and 20 saves.

The other finalists for the trophy were USM infielder Luke Reynolds, Delta State star first baseman Zack Shannon, Mississippi State outfielder Jake Mangum and Ole Miss outfielder/infielder Ryan Olenek.

He is the third Southern Miss player to capture this award, as outfielder Tyler Koelling won in 2011 and pitcher James McMahon won in 2015.

Sandlin, a preseason Conference USA Pitcher of the Year earned National Pitcher of the week honors five times during the campaign, as well as capturing the Conference USA weekly honor four times.

He is also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, given to the best player in college baseball.

Sun Herald will update this report.

This story was originally published May 21, 2018 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Southern Miss pitcher Nick Sandlin named Ferriss Trophy winner."