Mississippi State sophomore pitcher Tomas Valincius has been named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, which honors the nation’s top amateur baseball player, the university announced Monday. Valincius is among 25 semifinalists and one of 10 from the Southeastern Conference.
Fans can vote on GoldenSpikesAward.com to help determine the finalists, who will be announced June 10. The award will be presented June 29 on MLB Network.
Through 13 starts, Valincius is 8-2 with a 2.52 ERA, 105 strikeouts and 16 walks in 75 innings. He has limited opponents to a .209 batting average. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound left-hander from Lockport, Illinois, ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts and wins, third in innings pitched, and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.56) and WHIP (0.99).
Valincius is scheduled to make his final regular-season start Thursday at No. 10 Texas A&M. He is the 10th Mississippi State player to earn a Golden Spikes semifinalist honor, and the first since Dakota Jordan in 2024. The only Bulldogs player to win the award was Will Clark in 1985. Rafael Palmeiro and Brent Rooker were finalists in 1984 and 2017, respectively.
