Press Release via LSUE Athletics
EUNICE, La. – LSU Eunice Baseball saw three student-athletes named to the prestigious Gold Glove Team, it was announced on Wednesday. Blake Lobell, Dawson Willis and Andrew Lee are three of the nine players on the NJCAA Division II Team presented by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Rawlings Baseball.
It’s just the second time in the awards’ history a single institution has three Gold Glove recipients in a single season, the first time since 2013. LSU Eunice has now had multiple award winners on four separate occasions since the awards inception in 2007, the last time coming in 2021.
“It’s an incredible honor to have these three young men recognized with a Gold Glove,” LSU Eunice Baseball head coach Jeff Willis said. “This year’s team set a program record for fielding percentage, and the three of them were a big reason for it.”
LSUE’s fielding percentage of .972 eclipsed the previous record of .970 set by the 2021 National Championship team. The Bengal trio gives LSUE 16 all-time Gold Glove award winners.
This continues the postseason award haul for Lobell and Willis, who were both named All-Region 23 and NJCAA All-Americans earlier this month.
Lobell, the first ever pitcher in LSUE history to win the Gold Glove, put together one of the best statistical seasons on the mound at LSU Eunice while serving as a potent defensive asset. The sophomore ace led the team in pickoffs with three while converting all eight defensive chances. He would hold runners on the basepaths as 5-of-11 stolen base attempts against Lobell were thrown out.
This season Lobell led all of the NJCAA with 129 strikeouts, the third most in a single season in LSUE history. His 14-0 record was second most in wins in the NJCAA, behind teammate Owen Schexnaydre, adding a 2.04 earned run average, tossing three complete games in 101.2 innings.
An All-Tournament team selection in the NJCAA Division II World Series, Lobell ends his LSUE career sixth in career ERA (2.33), ninth in wins (20) and seventh in strikeouts (177). Lobell was the lynchpin behind a Bengal pitching staff that set new season records in team ERA (2.43), strikeouts (635) and opponents’ batting average (.199).
Willis is the first LSUE shortstop to earn a Gold Glove since NJCAA National Defensive Player of the Year Brennan Bozeman in 2015. A two-year starter at shortstop for LSUE, Willis put together an impressive .968 fielding percentage on 221 chances with 69 putouts and 145 assists while committing only seven errors. The NJCAA Division II World Series Most Valuable Player had a hand in 28 of the team’s 33 double plays.
Offensively, the leadoff batter led NJCAA Division II in runs (90) and was top five in walks (70) and stolen bases (54). He would slash .329/.505/.525, all top four in the potent LSUE offense. He led the team in hits (72) and was second in runs batted in (52). He paced LSUE with 21 multi-hit games and ended the season reaching base in the last 19 games of the season.
The University of Oklahoma bound infielder leaves the Cajun Prairie ranked tops in career runs (153), walks (101) and stolen bases (82), and third in on-base percentage (.492).
Lee joins a prestigious list of what is now six LSU Eunice catchers to earn Gold Glove honors, now included among the likes of Johnny Bench Award winner Stuart Turner and NJCAA National Defensive Player of the Year Jacob Fisher. The sophomore was the wall for a record setting LSUE pitching staff as Lee held a sterling .998 fielding percentage on 422 chances with a single error on the season.
The backstop threw out 10 of the 39 stolen base attempts on him this season while allowing just three passed balls.
LSU Eunice captured the program’s eighth NJCAA Division II National Championship with a 56-8 record. The Bengals rolled through the Region 23 Tournament with an undefeated record, and finished the title run with a 9-3 win over Brunswick Community College.
2024 ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team
NJCAA Division II
| Catcher | Andrew Lee | LSU Eunice | Sophomore | Lafayette, LA |
| Pitcher | Blake Lobell | LSU Eunice | Sophomore | Springfield, LA |
| First Base | Jack Kerno | Elgin | Freshman | Rockford, IL |
| Second Base | Truman Bodenhausen | North Central Missouri | Freshman | Country Club, MO |
| Third Base | Jake Alwine | Paradise Valley | R-Sophomore | Phoenix, AZ |
| Shortstop | Dawson Willis | LSU Eunice | Sophomore | Ruston, LA |
| Outfield | Cole Smith | Southeastern Iowa | Sophomore | Dubuque, IA |
| Outfield | Cade Greer | Northwest Mississippi | Sophomore | Olive Branch, MS |
| Outfield | Shawn Cameron | Brunswick | R-Sophomore | Morganza, MD |