LSU's Dylan Crews wins 2023 Golden Spikes Award
OMAHA, Neb. – LSU’s Dylan Crews was named the 45th winner of the Golden Spikes Award Sunday during a live presentation on ESPN. Created in 1978, the Golden Spikes Award honors the top amateur baseball player in the United States based on their athletic ability, sportsmanship, character, and overall contribution to the sport.
Crews becomes the second LSU player in program history to earn the award, joining 1989 winner Ben McDonald as the only two Tigers to win. He is the 10th winner from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which surpasses the Pac-12 for the most all-time Golden Spikes Award winners. Prior to Crews, the most recent award winner from the SEC was Kevin Kopps (Arkansas) in 2021.
“Dylan Crews has been one of the nation’s best college baseball players since he arrived at LSU in 2021,” said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler. “His extraordinary 2023 season, in addition to his generous charitable work off the baseball field, make him an extremely worthy winner of this award. We are so proud to welcome Dylan into the Golden Spikes Award brotherhood and celebrate all of his achievements this season.”
Crews has been one of college baseball’s biggest stars in 2023, leading the Tigers to the College World Series Finals while sitting near the top of the national leaderboard in most offensive categories. The junior has reached base in all 69 games in 2023 and leads the country in runs scored with 94. He owns a .562 on-base percentage, good for second in the nation, while his 104 hits rank fifth and his .418 batting average is sixth-best in the country. Crews–who has drawn a second-most 70 walks–also had a 26-game hitting streak spanning from February 19 to April 25.
In addition to the national leaderboard, Crews led many offensive statistical categories in the SEC en route to earning the conference’s Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive season. His statistics in conference play were just as impressive as his regular-season numbers, as he batted .405 with a .545 on-base percentage to rank first in the conference in both categories. Crews drew a conference-leading 27 walks in SEC games and tied for the league lead in hits with 45. Additionally, he ranked in the top ten in conference slugging percentage (.685) and total bases (76).
Crews took home several conference awards in addition to being honored as the SEC Player of the Year, as he was named to the All-SEC First Team and earned a spot on the conference’s All-Defensive Team thanks to his performance in center field.
Crews, a three-time SEC Player of the Week, was also placed on the SEC Community Service Team for his work with Families Helping Families of Greater Baton Rouge, a non-profit resource center organized and directed by family members of individuals with disabilities.
Crews joins a group of past winners that includes Ivan Melendez (2022), Kopps (2021), Adley Rutschman (2019), Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008), and David Price (2007).
Golden Spikes Award winners have had tremendous success in the Major Leagues. Of the 44 previous winners, six have earned Rookie of the Year honors, including Lewis in 2020.
Additionally, three have won the Cy Young Award, three were named MVP, and 11 have won a World Series championship as a player or manager, combining for 18 championships. Twenty previous winners have also been named to at least one All-Star Game roster as a player or manager, combining for 61 total selections.
The award winner was selected through the distribution of ballots to a 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 of more than 150 voters. Fan voting continued to be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2023 and contributed to the voting total.
Golden Spikes Award Winners
2023: Dylan Crews - LSU
2022: Ivan Melendez - Texas
2021: Kevin Kopps - Arkansas
2019: Adley Rutschman - Oregon State
2018: Andrew Vaughn - California
2017: Brendan McKay - Louisville
2016: Kyle Lewis - Mercer
2015: Andrew Benintendi - Arkansas
2014: A.J. Reed - Kentucky
2013: Kris Bryant - San Diego
2012: Mike Zunino - Florida
2011: Trevor Bauer - UCLA
2010: Bryce Harper - Southern Nevada
2009: Stephen Strasburg - San Diego State
2008: Buster Posey - Florida State
2007: David Price - Vanderbilt
2006: Tim Lincecum - Washington
2005: Alex Gordon - Nebraska
2004: Jered Weaver - Long Beach State
2003: Rickie Weeks - Southern
2002: Khalil Greene - Clemson
2001: Mark Prior - Southern California
2000: Kip Bouknight - South Carolina
1999: Jason Jennings - Baylor
1998: Pat Burrell - Miami
1997: J.D. Drew - Florida State
1996: Travis Lee - San Diego State
1995: Mark Kotsay - Cal State Fullerton
1994: Jason Varitek - Georgia Tech
1993: Darren Dreifort - Wichita State
1992: Phil Nevin - Cal State Fullerton
1991: Mike Kelly - Arizona State
1990: Alex Fernandez - Miami Dade CC
1989: Ben McDonald - LSU
1988: Robin Ventura - Oklahoma State
1987: Jim Abbott - Michigan
1986: Mike Loynd - Florida State
1985: Will Clark - Mississippi State
1984: Oddibe McDowell - Arizona State
1983: Dave Magadan - Alabama
1982: Augie Schmidt - New Orleans
1981: Mike Fuentes - Florida State
1980: Terry Francona - Arizona
1979: Tim Wallach - Cal State Fullerton
1978: Bob Horner - Arizona State
2023 College World Series 8 Team Bats Tee
from: Alumni Hall 
LSU 2023 College World Series Stacked Odds Tee
from: Alumni Hall