EIU’s Loos is named to Brooks Wallace Award watch list

CHARLESTON, Ill. — Lucas Loos has made moving back to the infield look seamless, even if it was at a position he hadn’t played in college.

A month ago, during a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series against Tennessee-Martin, the Eastern Illinois University senior slugger was penciled in to start at shortstop. He has been the Panthers’ mainstay at the spot ever since.

It’s worked so well the Payson Seymour graduate is now considered among the nation’s elite shortstops.

Loos, who is a John Wood Community College graduate, has been named to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list. The award honors the nation’s top shortstop and is presented by the College Baseball Foundation. The watch list features 100 NCAA Division I shortstops.

In 16 games at shortstop, Loos has committed just two errors in 74 chances while continuing to be one of the OVC’s leading hitters. The right-handed hitting slugger leads the conference with 18 doubles and a 1.142 OPS, while ranking fifth in home runs with 11.

Loos leads EIU with a .359 batting average and a .433 on-base percentage and has reached base in 34 consecutive games. He has 16 multi-hit games this season and his 37 RBIs are second most on the team.

After opening the season at third base, Loos moved to right field, where he played a majority of the second half of the 2023 season at Oakland University. At JWCC, Loos was a third baseman who broke the JWCC single-season record for doubles with 26 and tied the career record for doubles with 34. He also smacked 29 career home runs (one short of the record) and matched Ryan Barnett’s career RBIs record with 125.