Tag: Golden Spikes Award

LSU sets a new SEC record after Jayden Daniels won the Heisman

The Tigers set another record last night that you may not have even realized.

On Saturday night, the best player in college football earned the award that we all knew he would win. [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] became the third Heisman Trophy winner in LSU history. [autotag]Billy Cannon[/autotag] (1959) and [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] (2019) were the other two Heisman winners from Baton Rouge.

The Tigers set another record last night that not many people even thought about. LSU became the first SEC school to have a player win the Golden Spikes Award (best player in college baseball) and the Heisman Trophy from the same school in the same year.

[autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] won the Golden Spikes Award after leading LSU baseball to a national championship with a win over Florida in the College World Series. Crews had a season batting average of .426 with 16 doubles, two triples, 18 homers, and 70 RBI.

Those stats led to him being selected as the No. 2 overall draft pick of the 2023 MLB draft by the Washington Nationals. Crews was picked one spot behind teammate [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Pirates.

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LSU’s Dylan Crews wins Golden Spikes Award

Dylan Crews joins Ben McDonald as the second Tiger to be named National Player of the Year.

[autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] added another accolade to his legendary career at LSU on Sunday before Game 2 of the College World Series final against Florida.

Crews received the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the National Player of the Year in college baseball. He’s the second LSU player to receive the award, joining [autotag]Ben McDonald[/autotag], who won it in 1989.

A consensus top-two prospect in the 2023 MLB draft, Crews is batting .418 on the year, the sixth-best mark in the country. His .562 on-base percentage ranks second in the nation, and he has reached base in every game this season.

As of publication, his total on-base streak is 73 games.

Crews will look to add one more piece of hardware to his collection as he looks to lead LSU to its seventh national title and its first since 2009. The Tigers have a chance to do just that on Sunday afternoon against the Gators.

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LSU boasts 2 of 3 finalists for the Golden Spikes Award

Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes are finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the top amateur baseball player in the country.

Every year, the Golden Spikes Award is given out to the top amateur baseball player in the nation.

This year’s award is down to three finalists, and two of them are from the same team. The projected No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the upcoming MLB draft, [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] and [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag], both play for the LSU Tigers. The other finalist is Jac Caglianone from Florida.

Crews has had a phenomenal year for the Tigers this spring. He carries a batting average of .432 with 17 homers and 16 RBI.

Skenes has an 11-2 record with an insane 1.90 ERA in 99 innings pitched. He has 179 strikeouts and only 17 walks. He pounds the strike zone with fastballs, but he’s not afraid to pull the string on a curveball and make you look silly.

These two finalists will be back in action this weekend as LSU hosts Kentucky in the Baton Rouge Super Regional starting on Saturday.

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USA Baseball announced the 45th Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists

USA Baseball announced the 25 semifinalists for the 2023 Golden Spikes Award. Which player will win the 45th Gold Spikes Award on June 25?

On Tuesday, USA Baseball announced the 25 semifinalists for the 2023 Golden Spikes Award. The 45th Gold Spikes Award will identify the top amateur baseball player in the nation. The award will be presented on June 25 at 2:30 P.M. during the College World Series finals.

Eighteen schools have representatives in the 2023 semifinalist group, including multiple players from Florida, LSU, Stanford, Virginia, and Wake Forest. Also, eight players have worked their way onto the list since the Midseason Watch List got announced in April.

The 2023 list included five players who got named on the 2022 list, as Dylan Crews (LSU), Jake Gelof (Virginia), Tanner Hall (Southern Miss), Tommy White (LSU), and Jacob Wilson (Grand Canyon) all return to the semifinalist list for the second consecutive year.

Crews, a junior outfielder from Longwood, Florida, is making his sixth appearance on this Golden Spikes Award list. In the past two seasons, the 6-foot 205 pounds outfielder has appeared on the preseason, midseason, and semifinalist lists.

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Eight different conferences appeared on the 2023 semifinalist list. The SEC leads all conferences with eight players, while the ACC has the second most with seven. The PAC-12 and the Big Ten combined for six athletes, and the Big 12 and Sun Belt combined for two. Also, the WAC and C-USA conferences combine for two athletes on the 2023 list.

Below are the 25 players on the 2023 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists:

Name Position School Conference
Max Anderson INF Nebraska Big Ten
Jac Caglianone LHP / 1B Florida SEC
Charlie Condon 1B / OF Georgia SEC
Dylan Crews OF LSU SEC
Chase Davis OF Arizona PAC-12
Jake Gelof INF Virginia ACC
Caden Grice LHP / 1B Clemson ACC
Tanner Hall RHP Southern Miss Sun Belt
Josh Hartle LHP Wake Forest ACC
Nick Kurtz LHP Wake Forest ACC
Wyatt Langford OF Florida SEC
Rhett Lowder RHP Wake Forest ACC
Quinn Mathews LHP Stanford PAC-12
Yohandy Morales INF Miami ACC
Ethan Petry OF South Carolina SEC
Alberto Rios OF Stanford PAC-12
Nolan Schanuel INF / OF FAU C-USA
Matt Shaw INF Maryland Big Ten
Paul Skenes RHP LSU SEC
Hagen Smith LHP Arkansas SEC
Kyle Teel C / INF Virginia ACC
Brock Vradenburg INF Michigan State Big Ten
JJ Wetherholt INF West Virginia Big 12
Tommy White 3B LSU SEC
Jacob Wilson INF Grand Canyon WAC

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Hagen Smith named as semifinalist for Golden Spikes Award

Hagen Smith was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Hagen Smith had a great sophomore season, and the postseason recognition he is receiving reflects that.

Already honored on the All-SEC first team, Smith has also been named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. The Golden Spikes Award is collegiate baseball’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best amateur baseball player.

The lefty is the eighth Arkansas player since 2007 to be named a semifinalist for the award. Two Diamond Hogs have won the award in the last decade, outfielder Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and pitcher Kevin Kopps in 2021.

Smith has played every role within the Arkansas bullpen. He was the ace to begin the season and transitioned to a reliever role after an injury. By the end of the season, he found his way back into the rotation. When you look at the numbers, you’ll see he was easily the best pitcher in the Hog bullpen.

Smith improved his totals from his freshman season, going 8-1 in nine starts. He appeared in 15 games, finishing the regular season with a 2.56 ERA, 93 strikeouts, a .191 opponent batting average, and two saves spending 63.1 innings on the mound.

The award will be presented on ESPN on June 25 at 2:30 p.m. ET, leading into game two of the College World Series finals.

Trio of LSU baseball stars named Golden Spikes Award semifinalists

Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews and Tommy White all made the list of semifinalists for the award, which is given to the top amateur baseball player in the country.

LSU hasn’t played its best baseball down the stretch and has battled some pitching injuries, but this team still has the chance to make a lot of noise, and there’s three players primarily to thank for that.

[autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag], [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] all have been dominant this season. The former two were some of the most coveted transfer portal players in the country and have made a major impact in Baton Rouge.

Crews, meanwhile, was named SEC Player of the Year for the second-straight season, and he and Skenes — who was named SEC Pitcher of the Year — could be the top two picks in this summer’s MLB draft.

All three were named finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player in the country. Here’s a rundown of each player.

LSU, Wake Forest trios leads Golden Spikes Award midseason watchlist

The Golden Spikes watchlist is headlined by the LSU trio of Crews, White, and Skenes.

The Golden Spikes Award midseason watchlist was released on Wednesday with 45 players being named to the watchlist at the mid-way point of the season. The award is annually given out to the country’s top collegiate player.

The names that lead the watch list are names that college baseball fans are highly likely familiar with, all part of the LSU Tigers. Those being outfielders Dylan Crews, Tommy White, and right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes. Wake Forest also had a trio of selections in pitchers Josh Hartle, Rhett Lowder, and Sean Sullivan.

For Crews, it’s his fifth career watch list nomination while both White and Skenes have been semifinalists in the past. Overall, six 2022 semifinalists made the watchlist in Tennessee’s Chase Burns, the aforementioned Crews, as well as Virginia’s Jake Gelof, Southern Miss’s Tanner Hall, and Grand Canyon’s Jacob Wilson.

Overall, out of the 45 players, 33 schools and 13 different conferences have been represented on the midseason watchlist.

The Golden Spikes Award semifinalists will be announced on May 22 before the finalists are named on June 7 with a winner announced on June 25.

At the midway point of the season, Dylan Crews is the likely favorite to win the Golden Spikes Award. Through 29 games, Crews is hitting .531/.659/.927 with nine home runs and 35 RBI. He’s also walked 31 times while striking out just 13 times in 96 at-bats.

If Crews, White, or Skenes would go on to win the award, they would be LSU’s second Golden Spikes Award winner joining Ben McDonald who won the award in 1989.

Florida State leads the NCAA in having the most Golden Spikes Award winners with four. The Seminoles last award winner was Buster Posey in 2008.

Texas’ Ivan Melendez wins the 2022 Golden Spikes Award

Ivan Melendez becomes the first Longhorn to win the Golden Spikes Award.

Texas first baseman Ivan Melendez has been named the 2022 Golden Spikes Award winner. An honor given to the top amateur baseball player in America. Melendez becomes the first Longhorns to take home the award.

The “Hispanic Titanic” chose to return to Texas after getting drafted by the Marlins in the 2021 MLB Draft with hopes of rising his draft stock. Melendez did exactly that and more with a historic 2022 season.

Melendez hit .387 with the nation’s best 32 home runs and 94 RBI. He passed Kris Bryant’s nine-year-old record of 31 bombs during the BBCOR era.

Defense is easy to forget about behind his video game offensive numbers but Melendez’s glove was a huge weapon for Texas’ top-ranked defense in the nation.

Melendez finishes his Texas career as one of the best to ever put on the uniform. Expect to see the No. 17 retired here in the near future.

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LSU’s Dylan Crews and Jacob Berry named Golden Spikes Award semifinalists

The Tigers are one of just five teams with multiple semifinalists.

LSU has already seen several players take home individual honors. Outfielder [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] was named SEC Co-Player of the Year in addition to selections to the First-Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team lists.

Third baseman [autotag]Jacob Berry[/autotag], meanwhile, was named to the Second-Team All-SEC list while first baseman [autotag]Tre’ Morgan[/autotag] was also named to the All-Defensive Team. The Tigers may not be done yet, though.

On Tuesday afternoon, both Crews and Berry were named as semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, which is given annually to the top amateur player in the country. This is Crews’ first time as a semifinalist, while Berry — who some see as a potential first-overall pick — was also a semifinalist at Arizona last season.

Berry’s .381 batting average ranks third in the SEC, and he also has 15 home runs, eight doubles and 47 RBI. Crews is batting .345 and leads the conference with 21 home runs, the most for an LSU player since 2009. He also ranks second in triples (4), total bases (155) and RBI (67).

LSU is one of five schools to have multiple players on the semifinalist list, joining Cal Poly, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Oregon State. The list of semifinalists will be trimmed to three players on June 8 with the winner being announced at the 44th Golden Spikes Awards ceremony on June 24, which will be televised on ESPN.

Here’s the full list of semifinalists.

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Texas pitcher Pete Hansen wins Golden Spikes Award performance of the week

Pete Hansen was nothing short of fantastic against TCU.

No player in the country was more dominant than Pete Hansen against TCU last week.

The Longhorns ace gave Texas fans a game to remember on Friday night. Hansen tossed a complete game shutout where he logged 12 strikeouts while only allowing three baserunners. He set the tone for Texas’ 2-0 game one victory over the Frogs.

Hansen was named the Golden Spikes Award performance of the week for his masterful outing. The honor is given to the most impressive single-game performance across the entire college baseball landscape each week.

Hansen is the early favorite to take home Big 12 pitcher of the year and should be high on every publication’s All-American list at this point of the season. He will take his 6-0 record and 2.08 ERA into Manhattan this Thursday against the Kansas State Wildcats.

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