Jackson Wells Named All-America by NCBWA

DALLAS – Little Rock pitcher Jackson Wells claimed yet another accolade to his name Wednesday as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) listed the sophomore on its 23^rd Annual All-America teams.
 
Wells received third team honors and was the only player from the Ohio Valley Conference to receive the recognition. He was also just one of two players from Arkansas to be listed in Wednesday's announcement alongside Razorback pitcher Hagen Smith. This year marks the 23^rd Annual All-America teams to be announced by the NCBWA.
 
With Wednesday's announcement, Wells becomes just the third Trojan all-time to receive NCBWA All-America honors and the first since Ryan Scott in 2016. He is only the sixth player in program history to be named an all-American.
 
This marks Wells' second All-America honor of the year after Collegiate Baseball awarded him second team honors on June 1.
 
A Rogers, Arkansas native, the 2023 campaign was the first in the Maroon and Silver for Wells. He led the OVC in ERA for almost the entirety of the season. He finished the year as the league leader in ERA (1.65), complete games (2), hits allowed per nine innings (7.06) and walks/hits per innings pitched [WHIP] (1.13). He also finished second in the OVC in games started (15) and wins (7).
 
Overall on the season, Wells finished with a 7-4 record while starting in all 15 games he appeared in. Over 93.0 innings pitched, the sophomore allowed only 27 runs (17 earned) on 73 hits with 32 walks while fanning 80 batters. He tallied two complete games and combined for three shutouts while tossing one on his own.
 
Entering the College World Series, Wells remains the nation's leader in ERA but LSU's Paul Skenes (1.77) ranks second in the nation while Wake Forest has Rhett Lowder (1.92) ranking fourth and Seth Keener (2.23) ranking 10th as the Tigers and Deamon Deacons head to Omaha. Little Rock has had three players previously be named an NCAA statistical champion – Greg Taylor in 1996 (0.61 doubles per game), Casey Crume in 1999 (0.55 doubles per game) and Ryan Scott (.435 batting average) – but Wells has a chance to become the first to do so from the Capital City in a pitching category.
 
Previous NCBWA All-America teams from 1996-2022 have featured the likes of P Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State, OF J.D. Drew of Florida State, P-DH Jason Jennings of Baylor, 1B Mark Teixeira of Georgia Tech, RHP Mark Prior of Southern California, SS Khalil Greene of Clemson, SS-2B Rickie Weeks of Southern, 3B Alex Gordon of Nebraska, P David Price of Vanderbilt, P-DH Brad Lincoln of Houston, C Buster Posey of Florida State, catcher Mike Zunino of Florida, 3B Kris Bryant of San Diego, P-1B A.J. Reed from Kentucky; OF Andrew Benintendi from Arkansas, OF Seth Beer of Clemson, UTIL Brendan McKay from Louisville, Florida P Brady Singer, Oregon State C Adley Rutschman, Arkansas RP Kevin Kopps and Texas 1B Ivan Melendez, among others.
 
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.
 
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2023 NCBWA Division I All-America Teams
 
FIRST TEAM
 
C Kyle Teel, Virginia, So.*
1B Jac Caglianone, Florida, So.
2B JJ Wetherholt, West Virginia, So.*
SS Matt Shaw, Maryland, Jr.*
3B Tommy White, LSU, So.
OF Dylan Crews, LSU, Jr.*
OF Ethan Petry, South Carolina, Fr.
OF Alberto Rios, Stanford, Jr.*
OF Wyatt Langford, Florida, Jr.
OF Charlie Condon, Georgia, Fr.
DH Billy Amick, Clemson, So.
UT Caden Grice, Clemson, Jr.
SP Paul Skenes, LSU, Jr.^
SP Rhett Lowder, Wake Forest, Jr.^
SP Tanner Hall, Southern Miss, Jr.^
SP Josh Hartle, Wake Forest, So.
SP Hagen Smith, Arkansas, So.
SP Quinn Matthews, Stanford, Sr.^
SP Connelly Early, Virginia, Jr.
RP Kyle Amendt, DBU, r-Jr.
RP Cade Denton, Oral Roberts, Jr.^
RP James Tallion, Duke, Fr.
RP Andrew Walters, Miami, Jr.
RP Tyson Neighbors, Kansas State, So.
 
SECOND TEAM
 
C  Cole Messina, South Carolina, So.
1B Nick Kurtz, Wake Forest, So.
1B Nolan Schanuel, Florida Atlantic, Jr.*
2B Max Anderson, Nebraska, Jr.
2B Edward Felix, FGCU, So.
SS Brice Matthews, Nebraska, Jr.
SS Jacob Wilson, Grand Canyon, Jr.!
3B Brock Wilken, Wake Forest, Jr.
3B Jake Gelof, Virginia, Jr.
OF Jonah Cox, Oral Roberts, Jr.*
OF Chase Davis, Arizona, Sr.
OF Shane Lewis, Troy, r-So.*
OF Kemp Alderman, Ole Miss, Jr.
OF Lawson Harrill, Campbell, r-Jr.*
OF Cam Fisher, Charlotte, So.
DH Derek Bender, Coastal Carolina, Sr.
UT Payton Tolle, Wichita State, So.
UT Cole Mathis, Charleston, So.
SP Cade Kuehler, Campbell, Jr.
SP Sean Sullivan, Wake Forest, So.
SP Trey Yesavage, East Carolina, So.
SP Lucas Gordon, Texas, Jr.^
SP Grant Rogers, McNeese State, Jr.^
SP Omar Melendez, Alabama State, So.^
SP Diego Barrera, LMU, Grad.^
RP Mitchell Scott, Kent State, Grad.
RP Brandon Neely, Florida, So.
RP Camden Minacci, Wake Forest, Jr.
RP Simon Miller, UTSA, Jr.^
RP Teddy Sharkey, Coastal Carolina, Jr.
 
THIRD TEAM
 
C Ben McCabe, UCF, r-Sr.
C Grant Jay, DBU, Fr.
1B Brock Vradenburg, Michigan State, Jr.
1B Alejandro Figueredo, FGCU, Sr.
2B Travis Bazzana, Oregon State, So.
SS Bryce Arnold, Campbell, Jr.
SS Josh Rivera, Florida, Jr.
3B Nick Lorusso, Maryland, Jr.
3B Austin Deming, BYU, Sr.+
OF Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt, Jr.
OF Dylan Campbell, Texas, Jr.
OF Matt Hogan, Oral Roberts, r-Sr.
OF Angelo Dispigna, Georgia Tech, Sr.
OF Daalen Adderly, Texas Southern, Jr.*
OF Nolan Schubart, Oklahoma State, Fr.
DH EthAdaman Mann, DBU, r-Jr.
DH Joe Kinker, FGCU, Grad.
UT Justin Murray, Houston, Jr.
SP Ryan Johnson, DBU, So.
SP Connor Fenlong, Indiana State, r-Sr.^
SP Jackson Wells, Little Rock, So.^
SP Jacob Cravey, Samford, Jr.^
SP Brody Brecht, Iowa, So.
SP Matt Ager, UC Santa Barbara, So.
SP Kelly Austin, UCLA, Sr.
RP Seth Keener, Wake Forest, Jr.
RP Isaac Stebens, Oklahoma State, Jr.
RP AJ Russell, Tennessee, Fr.
RP Hudson Barrett, UC Santa Barbara
RP Nick Maldonado, Vanderbilt, Sr.
RP Dalton Kendrick, Memphis, Jr.
 
* Conference player of the year
+ Conference co-player of the year
^ Conference pitcher of the year
! Conference defensive player of the year
 
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