Haseley, Smith Named Golden Spikes Semifinalists

May 31, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ÃÆ’Æ‘¢ÃƒÆ’¢’¬” Virginia juniors Adam Haseley (Windermere, Fla.) and Pavin Smith (Jr., Jupiter, Fla.) were named semifinalists for the 2017 Golden Spikes Award on Wednesday, as announced by USA Baseball. Virginia joins Louisville and Oregon State as the lone schools to have two players on the list of 25 semifinalists this year.

Haseley also was named one of five finalists for the John Olerud Two-Way Player Award on Wednesday. He was a finalist for the award in 2016 as well.

Haseley is batting an ACC-best .399 this season with 14 home runs and 54 RBI in earning first-team all-league honors. He leads the ACC in batting, runs (66) and on-base percentage (.496), ranks third in slugging (.676) fourth in hits (85), sixth in walks (41), seventh in home runs and ninth in RBI. He was just the third player to bat .400 in the regular season under Brian O’Connor, joining Keith Werman (.446 in 2010) and Mike Papi (.408 in 2013).

He has reached base safely in 54 of his 55 games, including a current streak of 37 straight games, which is longest at UVA since Dan Grovatt reached in 43 straight games in 2009. He is tied for sixth in UVA single-season history in homers. He also is 7-1 with a 3.58 ERA in 65 1/3 innings on the mound. A First-Team All-ACC honoree at first base, Smith is batting .346 with 12 home runs and a program-record 72 RBI this season. He ranks 14th in the league in both batting and home runs. Smith is second in the ACC and fourth nationally in RBI. In a statistical rarity, Smith owns more home runs (12) than strikeouts (9) this year. He ranks as the second toughest to strike out of any player in Division I, with nine strikeouts in 217 official at bats (261 plate appearances).

The Golden Spikes Award finalists will be announced June 14, while the award will be presented June 29.

Virginia opens the 2017 NCAA Baseball Championship Friday at 4 p.m. ET when it plays Dallas Baptist in the NCAA Fort Worth Regional at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, in a game that airs on ESPNU. Virginia (42-14) is the No. 2 seed in the regional and has reached the NCAA tournament for the 14th straight year, the fourth-longest active streak in Division I baseball.