NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt junior JJ Bleday is among 55 players on the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list, an award presented to the top amateur player in the country, the organization announced Thursday.
The Panama City Beach, Florida, product led Vandy with a .368 average, .511 slugging percentage and .494 on-base percentage a season ago. Bleday ended the season riding a 28-game on-base streak and 10-game hitting streak.
Five Commodores have been named finalists for the Golden Spikes Award including David Price, who took home the honor in 2007. Other finalists include Pedro Alvarez (2007), Tyler Beede (2013), Carson Fulmer (2015) and Dansby Swanson (2015).
The Southeastern Conference leads the way with 13 representatives, while the Pac-12 Conference boasts 10 selections, the Atlantic Coast Conference claims nine and the Big 12 Conference has five.
USA Baseball will announce the finalists on May 29 and fan voting will open at GoldenSpikesAward.com concurrently and will remain open through June 10. The winner of the 42nd Golden Spikes Award will be named on June 14.
Nonconference single-game and season tickets on sale
Outfield single-game tickets are now on sale for Vanderbilt’s 19 nonconference home games at Hawkins Field through VUCommodores.com or by calling the ticket office at 615.322.GOLD (4653).
Tickets are priced at $14 not including fees. The Commodores will host 15 consecutive nonconference tilts beginning with the home opener on Feb. 20 against Evansville.
A limited number of outfield season tickets are still on sale as well. Tickets are priced at $99 – or $2.91 per game – for the Commodores’ 34 home outings including 15 matchups against the Southeastern Conference.
