Wise Semifinalist for Golden Spikes

May 26, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. – Senior catcher J.T. Wise was named one of the 30 semifinalists for the 2009 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award (GSA) as announced by USA Baseball on Tuesday. This year will mark the 32nd consecutive year that the award has been presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player.

The 2009 GSA will be awarded live at MLB's All-Star FanFest in St. Louis as part of a production by Major League Baseball and MLBAM. Online footage of the event will be found shortly thereafter, exclusively at GoldenSpikesAward.com and MLB.com.

Wise was named the 2009 Big 12 Player of the Year last week after leading the conference with a .375 batting average throughout the regular season. Wise helped lead No. 9 OU (41-18) to a second place finish in the Big 12 and a No. 7 national seed in this week's NCAA Tournament. He was also named to the All-Big 12 first team and to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team this season.

The Apopka, Fla., native has played in all but two games for the Sooners this season with 51 starts and has a hit in 45 of those games. He hit safely in 15 of the final 16 regular season games to post the Big 12's top batting average. The .375 clip is highest mark by a Sooner since Ryan Rohlinger finished with a .387 mark in 2006. Wise also ranks second in the Big 12 in slugging percentage (.703) and homers (17) while ranking third in total bases (137) and RBIs (61). Wise also hit well over .300 in Big 12 play (.363) with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs.

A defensive specialist, Wise is also one of 13 semifinalists for the 2009 Johnny Bench Award (awarded to nation's top catcher). The senior has thrown out a Big 12 best 29 potential base stealers this year (55 percent) and committed just two errors, good for a .995 fielding percentage.

Wise started his collegiate career at Louisiana State and was named a freshman All-American at second base. Following his sophomore season at LSU, he transferred to OU and hit .278 with seven homers and 49 RBIs as a junior in 2008.
Five schools lead the way with two semifinalists each (Arizona State, Indiana, Louisville, San Diego State, and North Carolina). In total, 25 colleges and universities are represented on the 2009 semifinalist list. Among conferences, the Atlantic Coast Conference is tops with five players on the list, and the Big 12 has four.

In 2007, USA Baseball instituted a new selection and balloting procedure for the most prestigious award in amateur baseball, and it will follow the same model again in 2009. After accepting nominations from sports information directors across the country, a committee voted to determine the 30 semifinalists. The names of the 30 semifinalists will now be forwarded to a voting body of 125 who will select the five finalists and the eventual 2009 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award winner.

GoldenSpikesAward.com – powered by MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball – is the online home for the award. The Web site features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, voting history, past-winner photo galleries, and photographs and video highlights for the 2009 semifinalists. Fans can follow online at GoldenSpikesAward.com as the list of 30 players is narrowed to five finalists on Tuesday, June 2, en route to the announcement of this year's winner on Tuesday, July 14.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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