Fort Worth, Texas – (February 20, 2020) - The Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award (BBCSA) presented by SR Bats announced today the players on its watch list for the 2020 college baseball season.  The award, created by the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation, was open to nominations from all Division I baseball programs in the country.  The BBCSA is based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity.
 
This year's watch list consists of 36 players representing 16 conferences around the country, and among them was Fordham shortstop Jake MacKenzie (Wallingford, Conn.).
 
"Our first national watch list for the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award presented by SR Bats is outstanding," said Tracy Taylor, executive director of the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award.  "Going national is a big step for us and to have the quality of student-athletes nominated by their programs was extremely rewarding."
 
In his third season at Fordham, MacKenzie is coming off another excellent season where he helped the Rams to the 2019 A-10 Championship.  He led the conference in stolen bases for the second straight year and set career-highs across the board in 2019, batting .305 with 49 runs scored, 15 doubles, three home runs, and 28 RBI.  In the classroom, MacKenzie is a Business Administration major and a two-year member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
 
"Jake is a young man of tremendous character and integrity," said head coach Kevin Leighton. "He is someone that our players and young people look up to.  Jake is someone that I know I can count on to get a clutch hit, or be the first guy in class.  He is someone that we can be very proud of because he is not only talented, but he does the right thing day in and day out."
 
The BBCSA originally started out in 2017 as an honor going to the top college hitter in Texas.  In 2019, the BBCSA expanded becoming a regional award covering Division I programs in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
 
The winner of the BBCSA will be announced in June and honored at a gala in the fall at the Fort Worth Club. Texas Tech's Hunter Hargrove won the initial BBCSA in 2017.  Dallas Baptist's Devlin Granberg took home the honor in 2018 with Texas Tech's Josh Jung winning the award in 2019.  Fans can follow news about the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award presented by SR Bats and its Player of the Week honorees during the season at www.braganslugger.com.