The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 6 Baseball’s Tinney selected as Buster Posey Award finalist
06.01.2026 | Baseball
Junior is one of five finalists for prestigious honor presented annually to top backstop in college baseball
AUSTIN, Texas — For the second straight season, Carson Tinney was named a finalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, the Wichita Sports Commission announced Monday morning.
Tinney is one of five finalists for the prestigious honor, alongside Jon Embury (Florida Gulf Coast), Chase Fralick (Auburn), Daniel Jackson (Georgia) and Vahn Lackey (Georgia Tech).
The junior is just the third finalist in program history, joining Taylor Teagarden (2005) and Rylan Galvan (2025).
Presented annually to the top backstop in college baseball, 2026 marks the first time the winner will be announced live at the Men's College World Series in Omaha, Neb. On June 13.
In 56 games, Tinney paces the Longhorns in numerous offensive categories, highlighted by his 1.198 OPS.
The All-SEC Second Team pick is slashing .333/.487/.711 with 21 home runs, 56 RBI and a team-best 49 walks.
Tinney's 21 blasts are the fifth-most by a Texas player in a single season.
As of June 1, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound catcher is third in OPS, fourth in walks, fifth in on-base percentage, seventh in slugging, tied for seventh in homers and tied for eighth in runs scored (64), among all qualifying SEC hitters.
Behind the plate, Tinney has compiled a .997 fielding percentage. As the main batterymate for the Longhorns' pitching staff, he has helped Texas record the second-lowest FIP (3.29) and fifth-best WHIP (1.21) in the country. Texas also ranks 15th nationally in ERA (4.10).
