CARY, N.C. – After being named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy last week, Ike Irish has been named one of 25 semifinalists for the 2025 Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseball announced Sunday.
Irish is Auburn’s sixth semifinalist for the award, including its second in the last four seasons. He joins an exclusive list of Josh Donaldson (2007), Hunter Morris (2010), Anfernee Grier (2016), Casey Mize (2018) and Sonny DiChiara (2022) as Auburn players to earn the recognition.
A complete list of Golden Spikes Award semifinalists can be found here, and the timeline for the award is as follows:
May 18: Golden Spikes Award semifinalists announced and fan voting begins
May 28: Golden Spikes Award semifinalists fan voting ends
June 4: Golden Spikes Award finalists announced and fan voting begins
June 20: Golden Spikes Award finalists fan voting ends
June 21: Golden Spikes Award winner announced at 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN
Fan voting will again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2025. Baseball fans can vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com, beginning today with the naming of the semifinalists.
A native of Hudsonville, Michigan, Irish finished the regular season hitting .354 with 59 runs, 67 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs and 52 RBI in 49 games played. He has drawn 28 walks and 10 hit-by-pitches, good for a .461 on-base percentage, and is 10-for-11 in stolen bases. As a catcher and an outfielder, Irish has caught six base stealers while allowing only two stolen bases and has registered a pair of outfield assists.
In league play, Irish finished the SEC season second in the league in average (.398), on-base percentage (.480), slugging percentage (.852), home runs (13) and total bases (92). He also ranked top five in runs (38), hits (43) and RBI (33) despite missing the first weekend of the conference season. In 15 SEC road games, he hit .433 with a .514 on-base percentage, totaling 22 runs, 26 hits, 12 home runs and 21 RBI.
In 154 career games, Irish has amassed 154 runs, 212 hits, including 45 doubles, five triples and 36 home runs, and 161 RBI. He became the fourth fastest player in program history to reach the 200-hit milestone with a three-run home run in the fourth inning of the series opener vs. South Carolina on May 8.