Evan White was honored with the 2017 ABCA Collegiate Rawlings Gold Glove Award at first base, it was announced on Wednesday. It is White’s second consecutive trophy for his glove work.
The 6-foot-3, 205 pound junior last week was drafted No. 17 overall by the Seattle Mariners. He reported to the organization this week and will officially be assigned to his first career professional team in the coming days.
White was considered one of the top talents in college baseball, an offensive force who also possesses elite defensive skills. Despite missing 13 games early this season due to injury he was recently named to Baseball America’s Second-Team All-America and is a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist. He’s also a three-time member of the All-SEC Defensive Team and now two-time winner of the Rawlings Gold Glove at first base.
White’s career numbers rank amongst the most impressive in Kentucky history. He has 233 career hits, the fourth most on the school’s all-time list and the most for a player in his first three seasons. His career .356 batting average in fifth on the all-time UK list and the 51 doubles he has clubbed are the fourth most for a UK player.
In 2017, White returned from early groin and hamstring issues and immediately resumed terrorizing opposing pitchers. He hit a team-high .373, making him the first player since Josh Loggins in 1997-98 to lead the Wildcats in hitting in back-to-back seasons. White’s 24 doubles are the second most in a single-season, while adding a career-high 10 home runs to fuel a .627 slugging percentage.
For his career, White has 74 multi-hit games and two hitting streaks of at least 20 games. He has recorded 21 games of at least three hits, has never gone three consecutive games without a hit and only twice has had back-to-back games without a hit. Showing the ability to make adjustments, White also has 70 two-strike hits in his career.
During the summer of 2016, he was selected to play for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, starting 15 of 19 games in the club’s tour around the globe as both a first baseman and outfielder. He’s also a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member.
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Matt May
