By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech baseball hurler Juan Vargas was recently named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List, an honor well deserved for the young Golden Eagle reliever.
A member of the Ohio Valley Conference All-Freshman Team last season, the sophomore has been sensational in 2025 for the purple and gold, leading the team in ERA, batting average against, and saves while ranking second in strikeouts. Tied for the OVC lead with six saves on the season, Vargas also ranks second in games finished with 11.
Sporting a 2.10 ERA and .202 batting average against, the Panama City, Panama native has embraced an even larger role this season as the leader of the bullpen. Vargas has completed 30.0 innings on the mound heading into Friday's OVC series opener with UT Martin, registering 39 punch-outs in the span, just one back of starter Jaxson Pease for the overall team lead.
Vargas represents the first Golden Eagle reliever named to the Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List since Ethan Roberts during the 2018 NCAA Super Regional run. Roberts, a current member of the Chicago Cubs bullpen, is Tech's all-time career leader in saves with 30 and ranks fourth in school history with 245 strikeouts, first with 12.60 strikeouts per nine innings, first with a 4.62 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and first with a .230 opponent batting average.
Photo by Betty Myers
