GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD

Hogging every one of them

Outfielder receives 4th award

Andrew Benintendi of Arkansas heads to down the line against of Mississippi State during the third inning Friday, April 24, 2015, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi capped off the greatest single awards season by a Razorback baseball player Tuesday when he was chosen as the winner of the Golden Spikes Award.

Benintendi, 20, made a sweep of the nation's top awards, adding the Golden Spikes Award to other national player of the year honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. The sophomore also was chosen as the SEC's player of the year by league coaches after hitting .376 with an NCAA-best 20 home runs, 24 stolen bases and 57 RBI.

Benintendi attended the presentation ceremony Tuesday night in Los Angeles with fellow finalist Alex Bregman, the LSU shortstop, and was announced as the winner by ESPN analyst Ben McDonald.

"I am very proud to be the recipient of the 2015 Golden Spikes award," Benintendi said in a statement given to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's WholeHogSports.com. "If it were not for my coaches, trainers, teammates and parents this would not be possible.

"I am grateful and humbled to join the long list of outstanding players who have received this award and would like to thank USA Baseball for this honor."

Benintendi, a native of Cincinnati, was joined on stage by his parents, Chris and Jill, and sisters Olivia and Lilly during a brief ceremony televised by ESPN and attended the awards celebration. The Golden Spikes Award, sponsored by Major League Baseball, has been presented by USA Baseball since 1978 to the top amateur baseball player in the nation.

"There are many awards given every year in college baseball ... but make no mistake about it, the Golden Spikes Award is the granddaddy of them all," said McDonald, the 1989 winner as an LSU pitcher. "It is to college baseball what the Heisman Trophy is to football."

Benintendi is the third SEC player in four years to win the Golden Spikes Award, following Florida's Mike Zunino in 2012 and Kentucky's A.J. Reed last year. He was the first Division I player since 2009 to hit 20 home runs and steal 20-plus bases and the first sophomore to win the Golden Spikes Award since Arizona State's Oddibe McDowell in 1984.

He was one of four finalists -- all from the SEC -- along with Bregman and the Vanderbilt duo of shortstop Dansby Swanson and pitcher Carson Fulmer. All four players were chosen among the first eight picks of the major-league draft June 8.

Benintendi, who will turn 21 on July 6, was taken with the No. 7 pick in the draft by the Boston Red Sox. He was draft eligible as a sophomore because his birthday fell within 45 days of the draft. He is expected to sign with the Red Sox before the July 17 deadline.

"It's been a humbling time," Benintendi said after winning the Dick Howser Trophy prior to Arkansas' appearance in its eighth College World Series in Omaha, Neb., two weeks ago. "I'm not just doing this for me, but for everybody that has helped get me to where I am. I'm just trying to soak it all in."

Sports on 06/24/2015