The University of Mississippi Athletics
Pomeranz Named Golden Spikes Award Finalist
6/8/2010 | Baseball
A day after being drafted by the Cleveland Indians with the fifth overall pick in the MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians - the highest draft pick in Ole Miss history - the southpaw continued to pull in accolades as USA Baseball named him a finalist for the award that will be presented for the 33rd consecutive season.
Pomeranz is the second Ole Miss player to be a finalist for the award as Stephen Head was a finalist for the 2004 edition of the award.
The Golden Spikes Award will be presented to the winner at a luncheon as a part of the MLB All-Star game festivities at 1:30 p.m. CDT on July 13 in Anaheim, Calif. The five finalists include, Pomeranz, Chris Duffy (Central Florida), Yasmani Grandal (Miami, FL), Bryce Harper (Southern Nevada) and Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast University).
This season, Pomeranz finished the year with a 9-2 record and held a 2.24 ERA to go along with 139 strikeouts. The junior was named Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year for his efforts, becoming the first Ole Miss pitcher to claim the award since its inception in 2003.
His 139 strikeouts ranks second all-time on the single-season list and pushed him to 344 strikeouts for his career, setting a new career record for strikeouts.
The left-handed pitcher is also a finalist for the Dick Howser Award presented to the nation's top collegiate player by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association. He has also been named a first team All-America selection by Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball.
In his junior campaign, Pomeranz was critical to the Rebels' success and helped the program advance to an eighth consecutive NCAA Regional as he posted wins over Oakland, No. 2 Florida, No. 7 South Carolina in the SEC Tournament, at No. 20 Kentucky, at Tulane, at Georgia, at Alabama, at Mississippi State and St. John's in the NCAA Regional.
