HOUSTON-- College baseball's leaders in wins, batting average, home runs and RBI will all be in Houston on June 26 as contenders to become the 16th winner of the Rotary Smith Award, signifying the top player in Division I baseball.

Billy Becher of New Mexico State, Jeff Niemann of Rice and Rickie Weeks of Southern have joined an exclusive and honored list of college baseball standouts as finalists for the Smith Award, thanks to wracking up an impressive set of numbers during the 2003 season.

Becher (Chandler, Ariz./McClintock HS/Chandler-Gilbert JC), a first baseman, batted .420, slugged 32 homers and drove in 118 runs in his first season with the Aggies after two years of junior college baseball. He was named both the Sun Belt Conference Player and Newcomer of the Year and went on to earn a spot in the All Regional Team last week in Tempe, Ariz. His 118 RBI are tied for the sixth highest total in NCAA history, and mark the first time a player has reached 100 RBI since 2000 when Smith finalists Todd Faulkner of Auburn and Brad Cresse of LSU both did it. Becher is the second Aggie to be named a finalist, joining Joe Williams in 1990.  Becher, who was drafted in the 18th round by the Oakland A's, was named first team by Collegiate Baseball and USA Today Sports Weekly. During this year's NCAA Tournament, Becher hit .400 (6-15) with two doubles, a home run and eight RBI.  He has set numerous team and Sun Belt Conference single season records this year including most home runs, most RBI, most hits (105), most extra base hits (52), most total bases (225) and highest slugging percentage (.900).  In his first year at NMSU, Becher led the Aggies to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, first NCAA Tournament win (16-14 over #15 UNLV) and most wins in school history (43-18).

The 6-9 Niemann leads the nation with 15 wins and will attempt to add to his perfect 15-0 mark when the Owls host Houston in Super Regional action this weekend. Just a sophomore, Niemann was named the WAC Pitcher of the Year and is a consensus All-America selection. He leads the Owls with a 1.65 ERA and has fanned 130 while walking only 28 in 114 innings this season. He is the third finalist from Rice, joining Lance Berkman (1997) and Mario Ramos (1999).

Weeks, who was taken second over all by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Major League Draft earlier this week, captured his second consecutive NCAA batting title with a .479 average. He has hit better than .420 in each of his three college seasons and owns a career slugging percentage of better than .900. He was a two-time member of Team USA and a two-time winner of the SWAC Player of the Year honor.