Texas Tech baseball’s Steven Gingery was named to the 2018 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, it was announced today.
Gingery, the junior lefty from Huntington Beach, California, is one of three student-athletes headlining this year’s watch list who was a semifinalist for the award in 2017. Last season, Gingery was named to the midseason watch list on May 31.
The award is given to the top amateur baseball player in the country. The semifinalists for the award will be announced on May 21, with the finalists chosen on June 6 and the honor presented to the winner on June 28 in Los Angeles.
It’s been a preseason full of accolades for Gingery, who earned five preseason All-America honors over the last two months. Gingery was also recognized by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in December, Perfect Game early January, D1 Baseball two weeks ago, Baseball America last week and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) this week. Sophomore teammate John McMillon was also selected to the CB Newspaper list as a second team utility honoree.
Gingery put together a phenomenal sophomore campaign in 2017, recording a 10-1 record over 15 starts. Through 91.1 innings, he allowed only 21 runs, 16 earned, for a 1.58 ERA. He also struck out a team-best 107, while holding opposing batters to a measly .186 average at the plate.
His 10 victories marked back-to-back seasons a Red Raider pitcher has hit double-digit win totals, as Martin accomplished the feat in 2016. Gingery’s ERA of 1.58 was the lowest by a Tech pitcher since Corey Taylor’s NCAA-best 0.31 in 2015 and was the sixth-lowest in a single season in program history
As for his 107 strikeouts, the total made Gingery the first since Chad Bettis (102) in 2010 to push past the 100-strikeout threshold in a season. His 107 K’s were also the most at Tech in a single season since Monty Ward rung up a school-record 151 batters in 1998.
His performance on the mound helped him become the program’s first unanimous First Team All-American, garnering honors from six different publications last season. He was also awarded Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year.
Gingery and the Red Raiders are set to open the 2018 campaign on Friday, Feb. 16, against Maine, at 2 p.m. at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
(Courtesy: Texas Tech Sports Communications Department)
