Arkansas pitcher Kevin Kopps was all smiles Thursday evening moments after he received the Golden Spikes Award for being the best player in college baseball this season.

Kopps confirmed he would sign with the San Diego Padres, who drafted him No. 99 overall in the recent Major League Baseball Draft, but he wasn’t certain yet on his minor league assignment, other than the organization would be aggressive with him and he’ll likely be a reliever.

“I like relieving a lot more, it’s more fun,” Kopps told local Arkansas media, including THV11.

About the slew of awards he picked up, Kopps hesitated, then said, “All of them are really cool, I just don’t think it’s sunk in yet. … It’s like what Coach Hobbs told me, that I was going to be an All-American, and have confidence in that. Just kind of reassure myself more, because I think as the season went on, that’s when I started to build on top of myself, and really realize who I was. … I still feels really weird to me, everything’s been moving really fast for me, I haven’t had a chance to kind of sit back and look at it.”

Kopps went 12-1 record with 11 saves and a nation-best 0.90 ERA. He struck out 131 in 89 2/3 innings of work. Opposing hitters had a .162 average against the right-hander, who set the program’s single-season record for ERA during his historic year.