Andrew Morales Selected As Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
May 27, 2014 | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine's Andrew Morales remains among the top players in the country competing for the 37th Golden Spikes Award and has been voted a semifinalist Tuesday.
Morales has been one of the key figures in UC Irvine's success this season. Leading the Anteaters with a 9-2 record and a 1.56 ERA, the senior has helped UCI earn its first NCAA post-season berth in three seasons. Morales dots the national rankings in strikeouts (7th) with 119, ERA (29th), hits allowed per nine innings (13th) at 5.84 and is 12th with a 0.87 WHIP.
Morales did not allow an earned run in the first 34.1 innings he pitched in 2014 and also logged a 31.1 shutout streak that included two complete-game shutouts. He is a candidate for the National Pitcher of the Year, the Dick Howser Trophy and is a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.
Fan voting, which will play a part in the award, begins today at GoldenSpikesAward.com and continues until Friday, May 30. The 21 student-athletes on the list represent 10 NCAA conferences and will be narrowed to a group of three finalists next Tuesday on June 3.
Morales and the Anteaters travel to the Corvallis Regional this Friday at 2:00 p.m. to take on UNLV. Completing the regional field are host Oregon State and North Dakota State.
The complete 2014 Golden Spikes Award semifinalist list is as follows:
Name, Position, Class, School (in order of last name, new players bolded)
Aaron Brown, OF/LHP, Junior, Pepperdine
Michael Conforto, OF, Junior, Oregon State
Tyler Davis, RHP, Junior, Washington
Chris Ellis, RHP, Junior, Mississippi
Kyle Freeland, LHP, Junior, Evansville
Casey Gillaspie, IF, Junior, Wichita State
Daniel Gossett, RHP, Senior, Clemson
Matt Imhof, LHP, Junior, Cal Poly
Connor Joe, IF, Junior, San Diego
Michael Katz, IF, Junior, William & Mary
Nathan Kirby, LHP, Sophomore, Virginia
Jordan Luplow, OF, Junior, Fresno State
Andrew Morales, RHP, Senior, UC Irvine
Michael Murray, RHP, Sophomore, Florida Gulf Coast
Aaron Nola, RHP, Junior, Louisiana State
Max Pentecost, C, Junior, Kennesaw State
Josh Prevost, RHP, Senior, Seton Hall
A.J. Reed, LHP/IF, Junior, Kentucky
DJ Stewart, OF, Sophomore, Florida State
Sam Travis, IF, Junior, Indiana
Drew Weeks, OF/IF, Junior, North Florida
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