Trevor Bauer Becomes First Bruin To Win The Golden Spikes Award

For three years we have watched Trevor Bauer make minced meat of opponents and the UCLA record book. Now he has another school record, becoming the first Bruin to ever win the Golden Spikes Award, which is awarded annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country or "baseball's Heisman" if you will. Bauer was announced as the winner on Friday at the MLB Network studios, where he was along with the two other finalists, Virginia's Danny Hultzen and Texas' Taylor Jungmann.

The award was absolutely deserved for Bauer, who went 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA in 136.2 innings this season. He led the nation with 10 complete games and his 203 strikeouts didn't just lead the nation, they set a new Pac-10 single-season record. This came after leading the nation in strikeouts in 2010 as well as part of a UCLA career that saw him set school record for all-time strikeouts, wins and innings pitched.

Bauer was interviewed on MLB Network after being named the winner. Besides being somewhat at a loss for words, he was able to speak about what the award means to him.

"It's definitely validation for that, for all the work hard I've put in, but also for the hard work my coaches put in with me, my teammates," Bauer said, before going on to thank his parents and his coaches down in Texas, where he does his summer work.

So now Bauer has the Golden Spikes Award to add to a trophy case that already had Baseball America and Louisville Slugger's National Player of the Year, College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year. Not a bad way to leave the college game. Congratulations again to Trevor. I feel like we've been saying that a lot and it's been deserved every single time.