The Tulane Green Wave baseball team star shortstop was recognized Wednesday as one of the top 100 shortstops in the nation.
The Tulane Green Wave baseball team started the season hot and is going through the bits of ebbs and flows to start the year with a 6-5 loss to the Nicholls State Colonels on Tuesday night, which marks their second loss to an in-state school in the Southland Conference, and third midweek defeat. But while the 8-5 team at a whole is performing better on weekends, there were some individual standout performances that caught attention, and have since the season start.
Shortstop Kaikea Harrison was named to the 2026 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Watch List, which was announced on Wednesday. The award honors the nation’s top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year. The award is named after former Texas Tech Red Raiders shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for them from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died at 27 years old from leukemia. Harrison was announced as one of the top 100 in the country as a part of the award, and while it’s headlined by offensive sluggers, it also highlighted some strong defensive players as well.
Harrison certainly fits the offensive power category, as he’s slashing .321/.391/.518 with a .908 OPS, 17 runs, 18 hits, four doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs, 28 total bases, six walks, and three stolen bases. In the team’s loss to the Colonels on Tuesday, Harrison led the hitting attack for Tulane with two hits, two runs and three RBIs, hitting a three-run home run to put the Wave up 5-3, a lead they ultimately relinquished. Harrison’s homer was his second of the season, the third of his career at Tulane, and the fourth in his career, playing two seasons for the USC Trojans before transferring to the Green Wave.
The Brooks Wallace Award went to Roch Cholowsky from UCLA in 2025 and Griff O'Ferrall from Virginia in 2024, who now is with the Baltimore Orioles. It is one of four major award presented by the CBF, which also awards the John Olerud Two-Way Player, National Pitcher and Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of the Week.
While Harrison’s individual efforts certainly deserve praise, Tulane is now looking to bounce back and find their ninth win of the season, which they’ll hope to do on the road in Fort Worth, Texas. The team will take the trip there to play the No. 17 (D1) / No. 21 (Coaches) TCU Horned Frogs, who are 6-5 on the year, in a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 6 at 6 p.m.