Kade Brown, a right-hander from Elk Grove, is one of four underclassmen on the list of 13 finalists for the 2025 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s Stopper of the Year award. Photo courtesy of Sacramento State Athletics

 

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Sacramento State sophomore closer Kade Brown was named as one of 13 finalists for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s Stopper of the Year award given to the nation’s top reliever in NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I baseball.

The award is in its 20th season and this year’s winner will be announced via a new conference on June 13, after press time, prior to the College World Series start at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

Brown, who was also named a preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and a semifinalist for the organization’s Dick Howser Trophy given to the nation’s Player of the Year, becomes the first Hornet reliever to be named an award finalist. Past Sacramento State greats Sutter McLoughlin (2013-14), Tyler Beardsley (2016) and Jack Zalasky (2023) had all been named to the award’s midseason list during their careers but were never finalists.

The right-hander from Elk Grove is one of four underclassmen on the list of finalists for the 2025 honor, joining Louisiana State University freshman Casan Evans, University of California, Irvine sophomore Ricky Ojeda and Texas freshman Dylan Volantis. Brown joins Ojeda as the only two representatives from the West Coast and the duo is joined by Creighton’s Garrett Langrell as the only three finalists not from a “Power 4” conference.

All told, six conferences are represented with finalists, with the Southeastern Conference leading the way with five. The Big 12 Conference (three finalists) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (two finalists) are the other conferences featuring multiple finalists. The Big East Conference, the Big West Conference and the Western Athletic Conference each had one representative. Ten of the 13 finalists were on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s Midseason Stopper of the Year watch list.

A first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection at the end of the regular season, Brown helped lead Sacramento State to a share of the league’s regular season title, its third all-time, and the top seed for the conference tournament, finishing the year with a 32-26 overall record and a 15-9 mark in Western Athletic Conference play.

The Hornets won 30 or more games for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons, one of the longest streaks on the West Coast, and their highest overall and conference win totals since 2022.

Brown finished his second year in the green and gold with a 3-2 overall record and a 2.93 ERA, ranking among the Top Three in the nation in saves at the end of the regular season with 14 in 22 appearances on the season. Over 43 innings of work, Brown allowed just 14 earned runs on 32 hits, striking out 49 hitters and holding opposing batters to a .204 average.

In only his second appearance of the season, Brown struck out a career-high eight hitters over 3.1 innings against San Francisco on Feb. 17 and finished with multiple strikeouts in a game 13 times. Brown earned either a save or a victory in each of his first seven appearances of the year and finished 2-0 with seven saves over his final nine appearances.

Brown’s 14 saves on the year rank second on the school’s all-time list behind only McLoughlin’s record of 17 in 2013, while his 22 career saves are currently fourth in program history, 11 back of McLoughlin’s record of 33 from 2013 to 2015.