BATON ROUGE — LSU senior pitcher Jared Bradford was named Friday to the 2008 Golden Spikes Award Watch List. The award is presented each season by USA Baseball to the nation’s outstanding amateur player.
The 2008 Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced on July 16. Former LSU pitcher Ben McDonald was the 1989 recipient of the award.
Bradford, a right-hander from Hueytown, Ala., completed the 2007 regular season with a 10-4 mark, tying Vanderbilt’s David Price and Casey Weathers for the most victories among SEC pitchers. Bradford also led LSU with five saves, and he posted either a win or a save in 10 of LSU’s 12 SEC victories.
A 2007 second-team all-SEC selection, Bradford worked a team-high 96 innings, recording 16 walks, 81 strikeouts and a .255 opponents’ batting average. He started 11 games and made 12 relief appearances during the regular season.
Bradford was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week on March 5 after a 13-strikeout performance against Lipscomb. He was also named the Louisiana Sportswriters Association Pitcher of the Week on four occasions last season.
Bradford is scheduled to be LSU’s starting pitcher next Friday, Feb. 22 when the Tigers open the 2008 season against Indiana in Alex Box Stadium.