2015 (Sophomore)
>>> Golden Spikes Award Winner
>>> Dick Howser Trophy Winner
>>> SEC Male Athlete of the Year
>>> Baseball America National Player of the Year
>>> Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year
>>> SEC Player of the Year (Coaches)
>>> All-SEC First Team (Coaches)
>>> Louisville Slugger All-America First Team
>>> ABCA/Rawlings All-America First Team
>>> NCBWA All-America First Team
>>> D1Baseball All-America First Team
>>> Baseball America All-America First Team
>>> Collegiate Baseball All-America First Team
>>> NCAA Stillwater Regional All-Tournament Team
>>> MLB Draft Pick – No. 7 Overall – Red Sox
>>> Capital One Impact Performer of the Week (May 8)
>>> SEC Player of the Week (April 20)
>>> NCBWA National Hitter of the Week (April 22)
Put together the most prolific season in Arkansas baseball history, winning four national player of the year awards, including the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy … Was named National Player of the Year by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball … Named the SEC Male Athlete of the Year, the fourth Arkansas athlete to earn SEC Athlete of the Year honors … Is the first Arkansas baseball player to ever win SEC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year honors … Was a consensus first-team All-American … Led the nation with 20 home runs and paced the SEC with a .376 batting average … Became the third player in the 81-year history of the conference 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 … Was the first Division I player in seven years and first SEC player in nine years to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season … Led the SEC in batting average (.376), home runs (20), slugging percentage (.717), on‐base percentage (.488) and walks (50) and was the only player in the country to rank in the top 25 in all five categories … Was the fifth player in program history to hit 20 home runs in a season … Finished third in the country in slugging percentage … Hit .443 in 29 SEC games, including a .736 slugging percentage and .527 on base percentage … Recorded 28 multi-hit games, 19 multi-RBI games and had a team-best reached base streak of 26 games … Scored a season-best five runs against Mississippi Valley State (April 8), drove in a season-high five runs against Loyola Marymount (March 7) and launched multiple home runs in a game against Mississippi Valley State (April 8) and Kentucky (April 10) … Was selected No. 7 overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 2015 MLB Draft, becoming the third highest draft pick in school history.
2014 (Freshman)
Played in 61 games as a true freshman, with 60 starts in the outfield … Hit .276 with eight doubles, 27 runs batted in and 45 runs scored … Stayed in the top third of the lineup all season and started 27 games in the leadoff spot … Was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team … Led Arkansas with 17 stolen bases … Hit first collegiate home run against Eastern Illinois (Feb. 23) … Recorded first career three-hit game against Northwestern State (April 22), where he reached base five times and stole two bases … Had an eight-game hitting streak during the year and recorded 20 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games … Tallied five assists from the outfield and had a .992 fielding percentage.
Madeira High School
Named 2013 ACBA/Rawlings National High School Player of the Year and First Team All-American after hitting .564 with 12 home runs, 57 RBI and 38 stolen bases … Earned Second Team All-America honors from Baseball America and MaxPreps … Selected as the Gatorade Ohio Baseball Player of the Year following his senior season … Twice named the Division III Player of the Year by the Cincinnati Enquirer … Earned All-State honors three times in his high school career and was a four-time First Team All-Cincinnati Hills League honoree … Holds the Ohio high school career record with 199 career runs scored, ranks second with 213 career hits, fifth with 166 career RBI, eighth with a .542 career batting average and 12th with 112 career stolen bases … Also played basketball in high school, averaging 25.5 points per game in his senior season to earn Division III Co-Player of the Year from the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In the Draft
2015: Boston Red Sox, 1st round (7 overall)
Personal
Son of Chris and Jill Benintendi … Has two sisters, Olivia and Lilly … Father played college baseball at Wittenburg … Has not declared a major.
