OMAHA, Neb. – On Saturday, June 13, the College Baseball Foundation presented a handful of awards to some of the best players and coaches during the 2026 college baseball season.
Here is who won the awards, with a recap of their 2026 seasons from World Baseball Network.
Georgia’s Daniel Jackson wins Buster Posey and Bobby Bragan Slugger of the Year Awards
Georgia star catcher Daniel Jackson won a couple of awards on Saturday. The Sandy Springs, Ga. native won the Buster Posey award and the Bobby Bragan Slugger of the Year award.
The Buster Posey award goes to the best catcher in college baseball, and the Bobby Bragan Slugger of the Year award goes to the top offensive player in college baseball.
Jackson talked about winning those two awards and what it meant to take home a few individual accolades.
“It feels great to get rewarded for what I love to do,” said Jackson. “I have a lot of passion for playing catcher. I’m extremely excited and also want to congratulate the other finalists.”
In 2026, Jackson has a .389 batting average, 13 doubles, 31 home runs, and 86 RBIs. He is the first catcher in college baseball history to reach the “25-25 club,” hitting 25 home runs and stealing 25 bases. Jackson has 29 stolen bases this season.
Jackson also won the 2026 Dick Howser Award, which goes to the National College Baseball Writers Association’s (NCBWA) national player of the year, and the 2026 SEC Player of the Year award. He is also one of three finalists for the 2026 Golden Spikes award.
Nebraska’s Dylan Carey wins Brooks Wallace Award
Nebraska shortstop Dylan Carey won the 2026 Brooks Wallace award, which goes to college baseball’s best shortstop.
Carey talked about what it meant to bring home the award for college baseball’s best shortstop.
“This is such a blessing,” said Carey. “I want to thank Jesus Christ and the University of Nebraska for giving me the opprotunity to play the game. It is so important to me.”
The veteran shortstop for the Cornhuskers had the best season of his college baseball career. Carey had a .353 batting average, a .428 on-base percentage, and an OPS of 1.050. The Colorado-native also had 16 doubles, 15 home runs, and 65 RBIs.
Carey was also a formidable player on defense and won the 2026 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award with
Florida Gulf Coast’s Evan Dempsey wins the John Olerud Award for the second-straight season
Florida Gulf Coast’s Evan Dempsey won the 2026 John Olerud award, which goes to college baseball’s best two-way player. It is also the second-straight season that Dempsey won the award.
Dempsey talked about winning the award once again in 2026.
“To be mentioned in the same breath as John Olerud and other winners is a huge honor,” Dempsey said. “I’d like to thank the College Baseball Foundation for letting me win this award not only once, but twice.”
In 2026, Demspey finished the year on the mound with a 3.15 ERA in 88 2/3 innings of work. Over that same stretch, he had 126 strikeouts and allowed a .209 opposing batting average. He was Florida Gulf Coast’s Friday night starting pitcher this season.
Offensively, Dempsey was a great player as well. He had a .333 batting average and reached double figures in home runs for the first time in his collegiate career with 10. Dempsey also finished with 18 doubles and 46 RBIs.
Dempsey was first-team All-Atlantic Sun Conference both as a pitcher and an outfielder. He was also the Atlantic Sun’s 2026 Pitcher of the Year.
UC Santa Barbara’s Jackson Flora wins National Pitcher of the Year
UC Santa Barbara’s Jacksin Flora won the 2026 National Pitcher of the Year award. The top five MLB Pipeline 2026 draft prospect had an incredible season with the Gauchos and talked about winning the award.
“A lot of my success comes from my teammates playing defense and my coaches,” Flora said. “I could not have accomplished this without them. It is unbelievable to be up here and honored in front of all of these people.”
Flora had an insanely dominant year on the mound for UC Santa Barbara. He finished with a 1.06 ERA in 102 innings of work. Over that same stretch, Flora had 133 strikeouts compared to 32 walks, and allowed a .155 opposing batting average. The right-hander also had a 12-0 record.
Along with winning the National Pitcher of the Year award, Flora was the 2026 Big West Pitcher of the Year.
UCLA’s John Savage wins Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year
UCLA head coach John Savage won the 2026 Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year award. Savage is also the 2026 Big Ten Coach of the Year.
He talked about winning the award and gave credit to his players and coaching staff for helping him bring the hardware.
“Skip Bertman is one of the best college baseball coaches who has ever lived,” Savage said. “So, to accept this award is such an honor. I cannot thank the Bertman family and the college baseball world enough.”
Savage led UCLA to an incredible 2026 season. The Bruins finished with a 52-8 record and a 28-2 record in Big Ten games. The total of 52 wins is the most wins in a season for the Bruins in their program’s history.
UCLA went on to win the Big Ten regular season and conference titles. They were also the number one national seed for the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Nebraska’s Dylan Carey (15) makes a throw during an NCAA regional baseball game on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
