LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV baseball senior catcher Erik VanMeetren was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced on Thursday.

VanMeetren, who was on one of the 75 initial members named to the watch list on March 11, was one of 20 student-athletes to be named a semifinalist for the award.

The annual Johnny Bench Award recognizes college baseball's top catcher at the end of each baseball season. Last year's winner was Max Pentecost from Kennesaw State, he was drafted 11th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2014 MLB June draft.

VanMeetren leads the Rebels with five home runs and is hitting .301 this season. He has driven in 26 RBI his 17 extra base hits are the second most on the team. In Mountain West play, VanMeetren is hitting a team-high .337 with three home runs.

From behind the plate, VanMeetren has thrown out 23 runners and ranks 26th in the country with a caught stealing percentage of .315. He has played in all 50 games this season for the Rebels and has started 48 from behind the plate.

Ballots will be sent to a national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 2, 2015. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 18th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 25, 2015.

The Johnny Bench Award semifinalists are (in alphabetical order):
• Chris Biocic, Alabama State University SO
• Levi Borders, University of South Florida JR
• Austin Bossart, University of Pennsylvania SR
• Andrew Clow, Mount St. Mary's University SR
• Danny De La Calle, Florida State University SR
• Trey Keegan, Bowling Green State University SO
• Kevin Martir, University of Maryland JR
• Darrell Miller Jr, University of California, Los Angeles SO
• Sean Murphy, Wright State University SO• Chris Okey, Clemson University SO
• Joey Roach, Georgia State University JR
• Daniel Salters, Dallas Baptist University SR
• Kade Scivicque, Louisiana State University SR
• Brian Serven, Arizona State University SO
• Garrett Stubbs, University of Southern California SR
• Erik VanMeetren, University of Nevada - Las Vegas SR
• Taylor Ward, Fresno State University JR
• Travis Watkins, East Carolina University SO
• Matt Whatley, Oral Roberts University FR
• Matt Winn, Virginia Military Institute SR

For more information visit www.wichitasports.com.