OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Lukas Cook overcame an elbow injury to return to the lineup for Purdue Baseball's stretch run, finishing the season with highest batting average by a Boilermaker since 2009 and earning a spot among the 30 semifinalists on the second watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award.
The Brooks Wallace Award recognizes the nation's top Division I shortstop. Presented by the College Baseball Foundation, the award is named in honor of former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.
There were 30 semifinalists on the second edition of the Wallace Award watch list. Cook joined UCLA's Roch Cholowsky and Michigan's Benny Casillas as the shortstops from the Big Ten Conference to be semifinalists. The semifinalists were identified based on their combined offensive and defensive performances from this season. Finalists for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award will be announced June 4.
"Paring down our list each year is always difficult and this year is no different," said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. "All these candidates are hitting for big averages but how well they field their position is paramount in choosing the winner for this award."
This marks the second year in a row a Boilermaker advanced to the award's semifinalist watch list. Camden Gasser was a semifinalist in the 2024 while leading the Big Ten in walks on on-base percentage. Overall, Cook is the fourth Boilermaker selected to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list since it evolved to spotlight shortstops in 2009 – joining David Miller (2012), Evan Albrecht (2022) and Gasser.
Cook finished the season with a team-best .385 batting average (55-for-143), a .250-point improvement on his .135 clip (7-for-52) from his first season at Purdue in 2023. He overcame a pair of elbow injuries along the way.
Tommy John Surgery sidelined Cook for all of 2024. A revamped opposite-field and base-hit approach helped get off to a hot start this year and he was batting as high as .475 on March 7 and .465 on April 1.
Cook was leading the Big Ten in batting average (.441) on April 7 when an anchor in his surgically repaired right elbow broke free. The now-floating anchor essentially locked up his elbow, especially while trying to swing a bat. The anchor also did not show up on an MRI. He played through the injury in the April 11 series-opening win vs. Rutgers and did not bat in two other games that week in which he came off the bench.
A scope of Cook's elbow revealed the floating anchor as the source of the ailment. After it was removed and the swelling from the procedure subsided, the pain subsided enough to allow him to return to Purdue's active roster the first weekend of May for the home series vs. Northwestern. He played second base in the nightcap of the May 3 doubleheader, making his first start since April 11. Even after going three weeks without a live game at-bat, the Knoxville native went 2-for-3 with a pair of opposite-field singles. The Wildcats also intentionally walked him.
Cook went on to start each of Purdue's final eight games. His batting average on balls in play during the final seven games was .222, a significant drop from the .495 clip that had helped him bat .436 overall through May 3. He had at least one hit in each of the Boilermakers' final three victories of the season. Cook finished the year with a .395 batting average (17-for-43) with two outs and also reached base safely in 15 of his 27 (56%) opportunities to lead off an inning.
Defensively, Cook committed only four errors on the season, including just two after March 8, while finishing with a .966 fielding percentage. He contributed to 16 of the team's 44 double plays, with only second baseman Ty Gill (26) being part of more among the middle infielders.
Cook's .385 batting average this season was Purdue's best of the BBCOR bat era (2011-present).
The Brooks Wallace Award recognizes the nation's top Division I shortstop. Presented by the College Baseball Foundation, the award is named in honor of former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27.
There were 30 semifinalists on the second edition of the Wallace Award watch list. Cook joined UCLA's Roch Cholowsky and Michigan's Benny Casillas as the shortstops from the Big Ten Conference to be semifinalists. The semifinalists were identified based on their combined offensive and defensive performances from this season. Finalists for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award will be announced June 4.
"Paring down our list each year is always difficult and this year is no different," said Larry Wallace, co-chair of the Brooks Wallace Award. "All these candidates are hitting for big averages but how well they field their position is paramount in choosing the winner for this award."
This marks the second year in a row a Boilermaker advanced to the award's semifinalist watch list. Camden Gasser was a semifinalist in the 2024 while leading the Big Ten in walks on on-base percentage. Overall, Cook is the fourth Boilermaker selected to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list since it evolved to spotlight shortstops in 2009 – joining David Miller (2012), Evan Albrecht (2022) and Gasser.
Cook finished the season with a team-best .385 batting average (55-for-143), a .250-point improvement on his .135 clip (7-for-52) from his first season at Purdue in 2023. He overcame a pair of elbow injuries along the way.
Tommy John Surgery sidelined Cook for all of 2024. A revamped opposite-field and base-hit approach helped get off to a hot start this year and he was batting as high as .475 on March 7 and .465 on April 1.
Cook was leading the Big Ten in batting average (.441) on April 7 when an anchor in his surgically repaired right elbow broke free. The now-floating anchor essentially locked up his elbow, especially while trying to swing a bat. The anchor also did not show up on an MRI. He played through the injury in the April 11 series-opening win vs. Rutgers and did not bat in two other games that week in which he came off the bench.
A scope of Cook's elbow revealed the floating anchor as the source of the ailment. After it was removed and the swelling from the procedure subsided, the pain subsided enough to allow him to return to Purdue's active roster the first weekend of May for the home series vs. Northwestern. He played second base in the nightcap of the May 3 doubleheader, making his first start since April 11. Even after going three weeks without a live game at-bat, the Knoxville native went 2-for-3 with a pair of opposite-field singles. The Wildcats also intentionally walked him.
Cook went on to start each of Purdue's final eight games. His batting average on balls in play during the final seven games was .222, a significant drop from the .495 clip that had helped him bat .436 overall through May 3. He had at least one hit in each of the Boilermakers' final three victories of the season. Cook finished the year with a .395 batting average (17-for-43) with two outs and also reached base safely in 15 of his 27 (56%) opportunities to lead off an inning.
Defensively, Cook committed only four errors on the season, including just two after March 8, while finishing with a .966 fielding percentage. He contributed to 16 of the team's 44 double plays, with only second baseman Ty Gill (26) being part of more among the middle infielders.
Cook's .385 batting average this season was Purdue's best of the BBCOR bat era (2011-present).