May 22, 2018
DURHAM, N.C. - Junior right-hander Casey Mize has been named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, USA Baseball announced this week.
Mize is one of 25 semifinalist for the 41st Golden Spike Award, including four representatives from the Southeastern Conference. He has also been named a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist and National Pitcher of the Year Award semifinalist by the College Baseball Foundation.
Mize became the first Auburn pitcher to earn First Team All-SEC honors since Chris Bootcheck in 2000 Monday afternoon. The Springville, Ala., native not only leads the SEC in innings pitched (96.0) and is tied for the league lead in complete games (three) and shutouts (one), but has also registered 30 more strikeouts than any other pitcher in the SEC this season with 133. His strikeout total is good for the third most in the NCAA this season and is the highest by an Auburn pitcher since 1999. Mize also leads the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (13.30), strikeouts per 9.0 innings (12.60) and WHIP (0.79).
After becoming Auburn's 25th All-American a year ago, Mize has backed up his numbers from his sophomore campaign. He turned in the ninth no-hitter in program history and the team's first since 2002 versus Northeastern on Mar. 9 and also matched the single-game record with 15 strikeouts against Vanderbilt on May 4. His 15 strikeouts were the most by an Auburn pitcher since 1999 and the most by a SEC pitcher in a conference game since 2012.
Beginning with the announcement of semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to the Golden Spikes Award voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel, previous Golden Spikes Award winners and select USA Baseball staff, totaling a group of over 200 voters. From Monday, May 21 through Sunday, June 3, the voting body will select three semifinalists from the ballot to be named as Golden Spikes Award finalists and fan voting will simultaneously be open on GoldenSpikesAward.com. Selections made by the voting body will carry a 95 percent weight of each athlete's total, while fan votes will account for the remaining 5 percent.
The finalists will then be announced on Wednesday, June 6. Beginning that same day through Friday, June 22, the voting body and fans will be able to cast their final vote for the Golden Spikes Award winner.
Mize and the Tigers (37-19, 15-15 SEC) open postseason play at the SEC Tournament with a single-elimination game against Kentucky (34-21, 13-17 SEC) at 1 p.m. CT at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.