#BennyBaseball Wins Golden Spikes Award
LOS ANGELES – Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi was awarded one of the highest honors in collegiate baseball Tuesday evening when he was named the 38th recipient of the Golden Spikes Award during a live presentation on SportsCenter at ESPN’s Los Angeles studio.
The prestigious Golden Spikes Award is the fourth national player of the year honor for Benintendi, who leads the country with 20 home runs on the year after guiding Arkansas to its eighth College World Series appearance in program history in 2015. The sophomore is the third SEC player in the last four years to capture the Golden Spikes Award.
Along with consensus All-America first team honors, the Cincinnati native has been named the Baseball America National Player of the Year, Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year and the recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy. He was also named the program’s first SEC Player of the Year.
When the College World Series comes to a close this week, Benintendi is in line to be the third player in SEC history to lead the league in home runs and batting average, joining Mississippi State’s Rafael Palmeiro in 1984 and Kentucky’s Jeff Abbott in 1994 as the only players to accomplish the feat.
Benintendi’s combination of power and speed made him the first Division I player with 20-plus home runs and 20-plus stolen bases since Western Kentucky’s Wade Gaynor in 2009, and the first SEC player to accomplish the feat since Vanderbilt’s Dominic de la Osa during the 2007 season.
In the best baseball conference in America, Benintendi leads the SEC in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage, on base percentage and walks, and is the only player in the nation to rank in the top 25 nationally in every category.
Recently selected by the Boston Red Sox with the seventh overall pick in the MLB Draft, Benintendi is the third-highest drafted player in program history behind Jeff King going No. 1 overall in 1986 and Kevin McReynolds at No. 6 overall in 1981.
The Golden Spikes Award has been presented by USA Baseball since 1978 to honor the top amateur baseball player in the nation. The award is sponsored by Major League Baseball and is presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation.
#BennyBaseball’s Hardware
- Golden Spikes Award
- Dick Howser Trophy
- Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year
- Baseball America National Player of the Year
- Southeastern Conference Player of the Year
Golden Spikes Award Winners
1978: Bob Horner Arizona State University
1979: Tim Wallach, Cal State Fullerton
1980: Terry Francona, University of Arizona
1981: Mike Fuentes, Florida State University
1982: Augie Schmidt, University of New Orleans
1983: Dave Magadan, University of Alabama
1984: Oddibe McDowell, Arizona State University
1985: Will Clark, Mississippi State University
1986: Mike Loynd, Florida State University
1987: Jim Abbott, University of Michigan
1988: Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State University
1989: Ben McDonald, LSU
1990: Alex Fernandez, Miami-Dade Community College
1991: Mike Kelly, Arizona State University
1992: Phil Nevin, Cal State Fullerton
1993: Darren Dreifort, Wichita State University
1994: Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech
1995: Mark Kotsay, Cal State Fullerton
1996: Travis Lee, San Diego State University
1997: J.D. Drew, Florida State University
1998: Pat Burrell, University of Miami
1999: Jason Jennings, Baylor University
2000: Kip Bouknight, University of South Carolina
2001: Mark Prior, University of Southern California
2002: Khalil Greene, Clemson University
2003: Rickie Weeks, Southern University
2004: Jered Weaver, Long Beach State University
2005: Alex Gordon, University of Nebraska
2006: Tim Lincecum, University of Washington
2007: David Price, Vanderbilt University
2008: Buster Posey, Florida State University
2009: Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State University
2010: Bryce Harper, College of Southern Nevada
2011: Trevor Bauer, UCLA
2012: Mike Zunino, University of Florida
2013: Kris Bryant, University of San Diego
2014: AJ Reed, University of Kentucky
2015: Andrew Benintendi, University of Arkansas
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