DEGERMAN AND MILLER HEADED TO OMAHA FOR THE CWS

Clemens Award Finalists Information Center

HOUSTON: (June 12) 2006 Clemens Award finalists Eddie Degerman of Rice and Andrew Miller of North Carolina will make at least one more start in their college careers, as both their teams have advanced to the College World Series, which gets underway in Omaha on June 16th.

This marks the first time in the three-year history of the award that more than one finalist has reached the CWS. J.P. Howell of Texas (2004) and Luke Hochevar of Tennessee (2005) represented the award in the first two years. In addition, two other semifinalists for the 2006 Clemens Award (Wes Roemer of Cal State Fullerton and Dallas Buck of Oregon State) have also reached the CWS this year.

Tim Lincecum of Washington and Brad Lincoln of Houston are the other finalists for the 2006 Roger Clemens Award.

Miller is the likely starter for the Tar Heels when then meet Roemer and the Titans on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Miller is coming off an 11-strikeout effort in winning the opening game of the Super Regional at Tuscaloosa. Degerman matched Miller by winning his 13th game in the super regional opener against Oklahoma on Saturday in Houston. He will likely start the Owls opener against Georgia on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The finalists for the 2006 Roger Clemens Award were selected in voting by a national panel that includes: all Division 1 head baseball coaches, a selection of national media who cover collegiate baseball, the 16 winners of the R. E. "Bob" Smith Award, which was presented to the top player in the country here in Houston from 1988-2003, and the six previous finalists for the Clemens Award. The second round of voting will begin next Monday, with the announcement of the three finalists set for June 8. Jered Weaver of Long Beach State (2004) and Luke Hochevar of Tennessee (2005) were the first two winners of the Clemens Award.

The Roger Clemens Award was named after future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who began his march to stardom while leading the University of Texas to the College World Series title in 1983. As a professional, Clemens has won 341 games (9th best in history), fanned 4,502 hitters and won and seven Cy Young Awards, emblematic as the top pitcher in his league. The Roger Clemens Award is the only award of its kind, honoring the finest pitchers in college baseball.

The event is administered by the Greater Houston Baseball Association, who has donated over $200,000 to the charities from the net proceeds from the first two dinners. The GHBA is a non-profit 501.3 (C) organization dedicated to the growth of amateur baseball in the Houston area.

Tickets for the 2006 Roger Clemens Award are now on sale. For more information, please call the Greater Houston Baseball Association at (713) 739-0505 or write to The Roger Clemens Award, 2550 S. Sam Houston Parkway West, Houston, TX 77047.

For media information on The Roger Clemens Award, please contact Chuck Pool (832) 244-6476 or by email info@clemensaward.com.