Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics
Trio Named to Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List
4/3/2025 3:05:00 PM | Baseball
Wake Forest leads the way with three athletes each on the list.
CARY, N.C. – Wake Forest baseball student-athletes Ethan Conrad, Marek Houston and Logan Lunceford were named one of 45 of the nation's top athletes from college and high school baseball by USA Baseball as they released the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List this afternoon.
Prior to an injury, Conrad had reached base in every game he appeared in. The junior still ranks fourth on the squad in both multi-hit (11) and multi-RBI (8) games. Before being sidelined, Conrad ranked tied for third in the league in runs scored and his RBI total placed him in the top 10 in the ACC.
Lunceford earned ACC Pitcher of the Week honors after a dominant 13-strikeout performance against St. John's on Feb. 21. In addition to his 13 strikeouts, Lunceford allowed just one hit over 5.1 innings, with 21 of the 58 strikes he threw resulting in whiffs. Lunceford matched his career high of 13 strikeouts in his first ACC start against Notre Dame to earn the win. The Harrah, Okla. was lights out, matching a career high with 7.0 IP against Miami two weeks ago. Lunceford allowed just three hits, keeping the Hurricanes off the board with eight strikeouts. He ranks second in the country with a 15.82 K/9, while also ranking second in the ACC with 4.91 hits allowed per nine innings.
Houston is tied for second on the team lead with 13 multi-hit games and is third on the squad with nine multi-RBI efforts. Houston has reached base in 25-straight games and has hit safely in 25 of 30 contests to start the year. With 43 RBIs on the year, Houston enters the weekend first in the ACC and 12th in the country in the category. The Nokomis, Fla. native tied the program record with 10 RBI in a single game with his standout performance against Notre Dame to open the series.
On mid-to-late May, the Advisory Board will trim the number of players down and USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists. Beginning with the announcement of semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to the Golden Spikes Award voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel, previous Golden Spikes Award winners, and select USA Baseball staff, totaling a group of over 100 voters. After the semifinalists announcement, the voting body will select the top semifinalists from the ballot to be named as Golden Spikes Award finalists and fan voting will simultaneously be open on GoldenSpikesAward.com. Fans will have the opportunity to vote up to 25 times per day for their favorite semifinalists. Selections made by the Golden Spikes Award voting body will carry a 95% weight of each athlete's total, while fan votes will account for the remaining 5%.
The finalists will then be announced in early June, and USA Baseball will send a final ballot to the aforementioned voting body that same day. The voting body members may select one finalist from the finalists ballot to be the Golden Spikes Award winner. Fan voting will reopen simultaneously during this time, and fans will be able to submit up to 25 votes per day for their favorite finalist on GoldenSpikesAward.com. Final selections made by the voting body and fans will again carry a 95% and 5% weight of each player's total votes, respectively.
The 2025 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award will be presented live on ESPN in late June.
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Prior to an injury, Conrad had reached base in every game he appeared in. The junior still ranks fourth on the squad in both multi-hit (11) and multi-RBI (8) games. Before being sidelined, Conrad ranked tied for third in the league in runs scored and his RBI total placed him in the top 10 in the ACC.
Lunceford earned ACC Pitcher of the Week honors after a dominant 13-strikeout performance against St. John's on Feb. 21. In addition to his 13 strikeouts, Lunceford allowed just one hit over 5.1 innings, with 21 of the 58 strikes he threw resulting in whiffs. Lunceford matched his career high of 13 strikeouts in his first ACC start against Notre Dame to earn the win. The Harrah, Okla. was lights out, matching a career high with 7.0 IP against Miami two weeks ago. Lunceford allowed just three hits, keeping the Hurricanes off the board with eight strikeouts. He ranks second in the country with a 15.82 K/9, while also ranking second in the ACC with 4.91 hits allowed per nine innings.
Houston is tied for second on the team lead with 13 multi-hit games and is third on the squad with nine multi-RBI efforts. Houston has reached base in 25-straight games and has hit safely in 25 of 30 contests to start the year. With 43 RBIs on the year, Houston enters the weekend first in the ACC and 12th in the country in the category. The Nokomis, Fla. native tied the program record with 10 RBI in a single game with his standout performance against Notre Dame to open the series.
On mid-to-late May, the Advisory Board will trim the number of players down and USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists. Beginning with the announcement of semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to the Golden Spikes Award voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel, previous Golden Spikes Award winners, and select USA Baseball staff, totaling a group of over 100 voters. After the semifinalists announcement, the voting body will select the top semifinalists from the ballot to be named as Golden Spikes Award finalists and fan voting will simultaneously be open on GoldenSpikesAward.com. Fans will have the opportunity to vote up to 25 times per day for their favorite semifinalists. Selections made by the Golden Spikes Award voting body will carry a 95% weight of each athlete's total, while fan votes will account for the remaining 5%.
The finalists will then be announced in early June, and USA Baseball will send a final ballot to the aforementioned voting body that same day. The voting body members may select one finalist from the finalists ballot to be the Golden Spikes Award winner. Fan voting will reopen simultaneously during this time, and fans will be able to submit up to 25 votes per day for their favorite finalist on GoldenSpikesAward.com. Final selections made by the voting body and fans will again carry a 95% and 5% weight of each player's total votes, respectively.
The 2025 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award will be presented live on ESPN in late June.
Follow The Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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