RUSTON – Graduate right-handed pitcher Blake Hooks has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association's Stopper of the Year Preseason Watchlist, per the organization's release Tuesday afternoon.
 
A total of 104 players were named to the 2026 Watch List for the 21st Annual NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.
 
Hooks enters his third season with the Bulldogs having already made 50 bullpen appearances, carrying a perfect 4-0 record with a 3.86 ERA and nine saves. All nine of his saves came in the 2025 season, leading Conference USA as well as securing seven of those saves in a CUSA game, as well as placing him in a tie for the fifth-most saves in single-season program history.
 
Hooks held to opposing hitters to an impressive .205 average in 2025 and .236 since arriving to Louisiana Tech. Last season he allowed 11 earned runs across 35.2 innings with 46 punchouts, which ranked fifth on the team.
 
The Petal, Mississippi native was named a CUSA Preseason All-Conference selection in late January prior to the start of the 2026 campaign, when the Bulldogs were also selected second in the CUSA Preseason Poll sitting only behind Dallas Baptist.
 
Hooks and the Bulldogs open the season on Friday, February 13 against the Houston Christian Huskies to begin a four-game series at the Love Shack.
 
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