LUBBOCK, Texas – Gonzaga's Ernie Yake has been named as a semifinalist for the 2021 Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to baseball's best shortstop, the College Baseball Foundation announced Monday.
 
Hitting .315 at leadoff for the Bulldogs (32-15, 19-5 WCC) since opening weekend, Yake's consistency at the plate and .958 fielding percentage have made him a major asset on both sides of the ball for a GU team that leads the West Coast Conference and ranks 20th in the Baseball America national poll.
 
"When narrowing down our list to this level, we put extra emphasis on what the award embodies and states in the bio of my brother, 'a slick fielding shortstop,'" said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award committee. "Numerous young men on this list exemplify that skill as well has hit for average and power."
 
A contact-oriented lefty with a swing that generates gap-to-gap power, Yake has struck out fewer times than anyone on GU's roster (12 SO) with the seventh-most at-bats on the team. He currently ranks 18th nationally among the toughest to strike out.
 
Yake has been earning national recognition since his first season at GU by way of Whatcom Community College.  In 2018, Yake was named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-America Team and has been an All-WCC choice every year since. At the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, D1Baseball ranked Yake No. 23 national among shortstops, and he made the list of the NCAA's top 100 hitters nationally last March as well.
 
This season, Yake ranks fourth in hits (46) and third in runs (34) despite missing three series this season.
 
The final winner's announcement for the Wallace Award will be announced at a later date, yet to be determined.