Casas, Petry Named to Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List

CARY, N.C. – University of South Carolina first baseman Gavin Casas and outfielder Ethan Petry were both named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, USA Baseball announced this afternoon (Wednesday, April 5). Casas and Petry are two of the 45 names on the Midseason Watch List.

Casas leads the team and is second in the SEC with 15 home runs after 30 games. He is hitting .308 with 38 runs scored, six doubles, 36 RBI, a .785 slugging percentage and a .449 on-base percentage. Casas leads the team with 23 walks and has been hit six times. He drove in five runs in a win at USC Upstate on March 8 and has had three games (UMass Lowell 2/19, Clemson 3/5 and Georgia 3/19) where he has hit two home runs in a game.

Petry leads the team and is third in the SEC with a .439 batting average. He has 30 runs scored, four doubles, 13 home runs and a team-best 42 RBI. Petry is slugging .841 and has as .496 on-base percentage. He hit two home runs and drove in five in a win at Georgia on March 18 and had four RBI in a win at Mississippi State (April 1). Petry is hitting .474 in SEC games.

Petry also was named Perfect Game’s Midseason Freshman of the Year on Tuesday, April 4, while Casas was named to PG’s Midseason All-America third team.

Twenty-four athletes have played their way onto the list since the announcement of the Preseason Watch List on February 10. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will continue maintaining a rolling list of athletes throughout the season, allowing players to play themselves into consideration for the award before the announcement of the semifinalists on May 22.

Thirty-three schools and 13 conferences are represented on the 2023 midseason list. LSU and Wake Forest, the nation’s consensus top two ranked teams, each boast three players to lead all programs. The list also features eight schools with two players: Florida, Grand Canyon, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. Additionally, the SEC leads all conferences with 16 representatives, followed by the ACC with seven and the Pac-12 with four.

Carolina hosts LSU starting Thursday night (April 6) at 7 p.m. at Founders Park. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.