6/9/2022 baseball Edit

Oregon State Baseball: Cooper Hjerpe Named A Golden Spikes Award Finalist

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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CARY, N.C. – Oregon State left-handed pitcher Cooper Hjerpe is one of three finalists for the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseball announced Wednesday. The Golden Spikes Award is given annually to the nation’s top amateur player.

Hjerpe is the third finalist in Oregon State’s history, joining outfielder Michael Conforto in 2014 and catcher Adley Rutschman in 2019. Rutschman, of course, became the program’s first Golden Spikes Award winner.

Hjerpe, a Capay, Calif., native, leads the nation with 155 strikeouts this season, which are also five shy of breaking the Oregon State single-game record. He is 10-2 with a 2.40 earned run average in 17 games, 16 of which have been starts. His one relief outing came on Monday against Vanderbilt, and he struck out five batters in two innings to earn the save and send the Beavers to the Corvallis Super Regional.

He's been tough to hit this season, holding opponents to a .182 batting average, allowing 64 hits in 97 2/3 innings. He’s also issued only 21 walks and sports a 0.87 WHIP.

Hjerpe is the first pitcher from the Pac-12 Conference to be named a finalist since Stanford’s Mark Appel in 2012. He is vying to become the first pitcher from the Pac-12 to receive the honor since UCLA’s Trevor Bauer in 2011. In addition to Bauer, the only other pitchers from the conference to receive the honor have been Tim Lincecum (Washington, 2005) and Mark Prior (USC, 2001).

Other 2022 finalists include Texas infielder Ivan Melendez and Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada.

Hjerpe is also a finalist for the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year award, and he was selected to the All-Pac-12 Conference First Team in May. Additionally, he is semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, which is also given to college baseball’s top player.

A final ballot will be sent to the Golden Spikes Award voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel and USA Baseball staff, and the previous winners of the award, totaling a group more than 150 voters. From Wednesday, June 8 to Tuesday, June 14, the voting body will cast their final vote for the Golden Spikes Award winner and fan voting will simultaneously be open on GoldenSpikesAward.com.

The 2022 winner of the Golden Spikes Award will be announced on ESPN June 24 on the “College World Series Special” at 5 p.m. PT.