Gavin Van Kempen Selected to the 2025 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List

West Virginia University right-handed pitcher Gavin Van Kempen was nominated to the 2025 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List on Wednesday.
The Award is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.
Van Kempen was 7-1 last season with a 3.14 ERA and 35 strikeouts before suffering a season-ending injury prior to the final month of the regular season. In his final four outing last season, he threw 10.2 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts.
In his career with the Mountaineers, the Castleton, N.Y. native is 10-1 with a 4.09 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 55.0 innings on the mound.
Van Kempen was also selected to the NCBWA Preseason All-America Third Team.
2025 Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List
Ben Abeldt - TCU
Simon Gregersen – Kentucky
Will Parkinson - Columbia
Davis Aiken - College of Charleston
Miller Green – Vanderbilt
Erik Paulsen - Stony Brook
Matt Alduino - Quinnipiac
Gavin Guidry - LSU
Kyle Percival - North Carolina
Cam Allen - Wright State
Brock Hill – UAB
Garrett Peters - Wright State
John Armstrong – Auburn
Cal Higgins – WKU
Owen Pierce - William & Mary
Max Bayles - Santa Clara
Casey Hintz – Arizona
Tony Pluta - Arizona
Andrew Behnke – Tennessee
Robert Hogan – Kentucky
Devin Pressley - Gardner-Webb
Tucker Biven – Louisville
Sean Hollister – Presbyterian
Owen Proksch - Duke
David Boisvert – Duke
Chase Hungate - Mississippi State
Walter Quinn - Grand Canyon
Luke Broderick – Nebraska
Joe Husak - Illinois State
Hunter Royal - Little Rock
Kade Brown - Sacramento State
Chase Ingram – UAB
Ruger Riojas - Texas
Drew Buhr – Indiana
Landon Kruer – Navy
Andrew Rubayo - Quinnipiac
Carson Byers - Miami (Ohio)
Max Kuhle - James Madison
Brayden Sanders - Memphis
Peyton Cariaco - Kent State
Tommy Lamar – Lehigh
Dalton Smith - Kansas
Dominick Carbone - Coastal Carolina
Reece Lawler – UIC
Derrick Smith - NC State
Dominic Castellano – UCF
Caden Leonard - Kent State
Nate Snead - Tennessee
Brian Curley – Georgia
Lucas Litteral – Western Kentucky
Kris Sosnowski - UCF
Stone Cushing – BYU
Carter Lovasz - William & Mary
Anthony Steele - Penn State
Spencer Dessart- California
Matthew Matthijs - North Carolina
Jacob Tabor - Toledo
Turner Doran - Western Michigan
Jacob Moore – Tulane
Dylan Theut - Louisiana
Jacob Dudan - NC State
Trevor Moore – Stanford
Drew Titsworth - Clemson
Tate Evans – Yale
Hayden Murphy – Auburn
Cole Tryba - UC Santa Barbara
Jacob Faulkner – Princeton
Austin Newton – USF
Gavin Van Kempen - West Virginia
Christian Foutch – Arkansas
Ethan Norby - East Carolina
Jaden Varner - Kent State
Luke Gainer – Omaha
Toran O’Harran – Stanford
Harrison Wilson - Winthrop
John Gillis - South Alabama
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