April 26, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Arizona State senior first baseman Jeff Larish and junior right fielder Travis Buck are among 40 college baseball players named to the initial watch list for the 2005 Golden Spikes Award presented by USA Baseball. The Golden Spikes Award is given annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country.
Buck (Richland, Wash.) is having a phenomenal junior season in which he ranks fourth in the Pac-10 hitting .387 (74-for-191) and sixth in the nation with 74 hits. He has also recorded 17 doubles, three triples, three home runs, 25 RBI and is tied for third in the league with 15 stolen bases. After starting the season slowly at the plate hitting only .246 through the first 15 games, Buck has since heated up going 59-for-130 (.454) over the last 28 games. Buck also starred for the USA Baseball National Team last summer, hitting .412 with two home runs and helped Team USA win a gold medal at the FISU World University Baseball Championships in Tainan, Taiwan.
Larish (Tempe, Ariz.) leads the Pac-10 and ranks fifth in the nation with 15 home runs. He is hitting .321 (53-for-165) while also ranking second in the Pac-10 in slugging percentage (.685), third in RBI (45), fourth in runs scored (46), sixth in doubles (13) and second in total bases (113). His 15 home runs include three multi-homer games this season and give him 43 in his career to rank fifth in ASU history. Larish also ranks second in ASU career record books in walks (179), fifth in RBI (213), eighth in runs scored (203) and sixth in total bases (448). Larish is also a product of the USA Baseball program, leading the 2003 squad to a 27-2 record with eight home runs and 23 RBI.
Buck and Larish mark the third straight year that ASU has had a player named to the initial Golden Spikes Award watch list. Former Sun Devil All-American shortstop and current Boston Red Sox prospect Dustin Pedroia was named to the watch list in 2003 and 2004 and became ASU's seventh all-time Golden Spikes Award finalist last season.
Arizona State has had three winners of the Golden Spikes Award. Bob Horner (1978), Oddibe McDowell (1984) and Mike Kelly (1991) all won the prestigious award during their Sun Devil careers. USA Baseball will announce their five finalists for the 2005 Golden Spikes Award in June.