Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Baseball standouts Kyle DeBarge and LP Langevin were among a group of 68 players named as semifinalists for the 2024 Dick Howser Trophy, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Dick Howser Trophy Committee announced on Thursday.

The prestigious award in college baseball, presented by The Game Headwear, is given to the top player based on two rounds of national voting by NCBWA members.

DeBarge, one of five shortstops named to the list, ranks in the top-10 in the Sun Belt Conference in average (.359), slugging percentage (.718), run scored (58), hits (79), RBI (63), doubles (16), triples (3), home runs (19) and total bases (158). The junior tied the single-season school record with 19 home runs heading into the final weekend of the regular-season and led Louisiana to a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship.

Langevin, a junior right-hander, has excelled out of the bullpen for Louisiana sporting a 5-1 record with a 3.11 earned run average and a team-best seven saves. The native of Quebec leads the Sun Belt Conference in both strikeouts (93) and opposing batting average (.161) while ranking fourth behind teammates Chase Morgan (2.89) and Andrew Herrmann (2.91) in earned run average.

This is the 37th year of the Dick Howser Trophy (first presented in 1987 to Mike Fiore of Miami and not awarded in 2020 due to COVID-19 suspension of the season). Finalists will be announced on Thursday, June 8.

The '24 award will be presented at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, the home of the College World Series, for the 12th year. The winner also will be unveiled on MLB Network on Thursday, June 13, in the 9 a.m. (CDT) highlight show hour. A Friday, June 14, news conference with the winner will be held at 10 a.m., the opening day just prior to the first game of the 77th NCAA College World Series, in the Schwab Stadium Media Room.

This year's 68 candidates come from 18 different conferences and 48 different schools. The Southeastern Conferences leads with 16 semifinalists with the Atlantic Coast having 13, Conference USA with six, Pac-12 with five, Big 12 and West Coast Conference with four apiece, Big West, Conference USA, Southern and Sun Belt with three, the American Athletic, Western Athletic and Ohio Valley with two and the Atlantic-10, CAA, Southland and SWAC with one.

The Dick Howser Trophy, presented by The Game Headwear, is given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987. The trophy is regarded as baseball's most prestigious award. Criteria for consideration of the trophy include performance on the field, leadership, moral character and courage – all qualities that were exemplified by Dick Howser's life.

A Florida native, Howser was twice an All-America shortstop at FSU (1957-58), then coached the Seminoles in 1979, after a career as a major league player and coach. After one year coaching in the college ranks, Howser returned to the majors to manage the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals and won the World Series with the Royals in 1985. The baseball stadium on the Florida State campus is named for Howser.

No. 21-Louisiana (38-15, 21-6 SBC), which will be the No. 1 seed in next week's Sun Belt Conference Championships in Montgomery, Ala., will close out the regular season beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. against South Alabama at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.