ARKANSAS’ ANDREW BENINTENDI AND MERCER’S KYLE LEWIS SHARE HONOR FOR 2015 GREGG OLSON AWARD

OMAHA, NE - Arkansas sophomore outfielder Andrew Benintendi and Mercer’s Kyle Lewis have been named the co-winners of the 2015 Gregg Olson Award presented by Toolshed Sports. The honor is given to college baseball’s breakout player of the year. The award is presented to a top amateur baseball player who elevates his game to an elite level throughout the season.

Mercer's Kyle Lewis

2015 marks the first time there have been co-winners of the award. The inaugural award was won by Ball State's Scott Baker. Last season UC Irvine's Sam Moore took home the honor.

In an injury-hampered freshman season in 2014, Benintendi started in 60 of 65 games for the Razorbacks, but was more of a threat on the base paths than at the plate. He did have a team leading 17 stolen bases, but he only managed to hit .276 with a single home run.

Benintendi triumphantly exploded on to the scene this year, as he became the first college baseball player to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season since 2009. He won both the 2015 Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards led the Southeastern Conference in batting average at .380, home runs, on-base and slugging percentage and also drew 50 walks to place just outside the top ten nationally. After leading his team to the College World Series, Benintendi was chosen seventh player chosen overall in the MLD draft.

Last season Lewis played in 42 games as a freshman, but only had his named penciled into the starting lineup in 17 of the contests. Lewis hit a respectable .281 but didn’t contribute much else offensively, only adding three doubles and a pair of home runs.

Lewis spent last summer with the Lima Locos in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League where the opportunity to play everyday allowed him to develop his skills and adjust to the game mentally.

This season, his first campaign as a full-time starter, Lewis was a breakout national performer and established himself as one of the top power hitters in college baseball. He led the Southern Conference with a .367 batting average and 17 home runs and finished fifth with 56 RBIs to fall just shy of the league's triple crown. Lewis was named the SoCon Player of the Year and earned Louisville Slugger and NCBWA Second Team All-America honors in 2015.

Other finalists included Ohio's Logan Cozart, Oklahoma State's Michael Freeman, Arkansas State's Zach George, Missouri State's Matt Hall, TCU's Cody Jones, Tennessee's Andrew Lee, Southern Mississippi's James McMahon and Miami's David Thompson.

The award is named after former Auburn pitching great and two-time All American Gregg Olson. After a freshman season at Auburn filled with only mixed success, Olson became one of the top collegiate players in the nation during an outstanding, unprecedented sophomore season. Despite being omitted from any preseason All American lists, Olson went on to lead the entire nation in ERA with a 1.26 mark and compiled an incredible 11-1 record with 10 saves for the Tigers. Following a summer pitching for the USA National Team where he lead the club in strikeouts, Olson returned to Auburn for another spectacular season. He led the SEC with a 2.00 ERA and amassed a triple-digit strikeout total, issuing 113 K’s in only 72 innings with only 27 walks. He finished his collegiate career with back-to-back First Team All American honors, a 25-7 record, 3.03 ERA, 20 saves, 271 strikeouts and redefined the way college coaches used their top pitcher.