Colin Butkiewicz

Western Kentucky junior Colin Butkiewicz was named Wednesday to the 2018 Johnny Bench Award Watch List.

The Greendale, Wis., native is one of 124 catchers in the nation to earn the recognition, and the list will be narrowed down to a group of semifinalists May 16.

Butkiewicz has started 34 of 44 games as a backstop, and ranks fourth on the Hilltoppers with a .282/.380/.410 slash line. He has 11 extra-base hits (nine doubles and a pair of home runs) with 24 RBI and 16 runs scored.

Of the catcher’s 24 RBI, a team-high 18 have come in two-out scenarios, and he ranks third on the club with eight multi-RBI games.

Butkiewicz – known as “Buck” to his teammates – boasts a .983 fielding percentage with only five errors on the year, while currently riding a 16-game errorless streak behind the plate.

The John A. Logan College transfer threw out eight of 10 runners trying to steal in his first nine starts.

With the help of Butkiewicz and reserve catcher Jake Ryan behind the plate, the WKU pitching staff has a 4.83 ERA this season after a 6.51 ERA in 2017. In Conference USA action, the Hilltoppers have a 4.67 ERA in 2018 following a 7.04 ERA last year.

Former catcher Hunter Wood was one of 15 Johnny Bench Award semifinalists in 2017, while Matt Rice was a semifinalist in both 2010 and ’11. Jordan Newton was the first WKU semifinalist back in 2006.

The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission started the Johnny Bench Award in 2000 to be awarded annually to the nation’s top collegiate catcher based on athletic ability, sportsmanship, team leadership and character.

Notable winners include Major Leaguers Kurt Suzuki (Cal State Fullerton, 2004), Buster Posey (Florida State, 2008) and Mike Zunino (Florida, 2012). Last year’s recipient was Matt Whatley of Oral Roberts.