RELEASE: Cozart Named to Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List
CARY, N.C. — NC State catcher Jacob Cozart was named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, as announced by the organization on Wednesday afternoon.
Cozart, a sophomore from High Point, is one of just 45 student-athletes featured on the Midseason Watch List. The Golden Spikes Award is awarded annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country.
Cozart is one of 24 players to play their way onto the watch list since the announcement of the Preseason Watch List on Feb. 10. He leads NC State in slugging percentage (.629) and doubles (nine) and ranks second among Wolfpack batters in batting average (.360). He is also just the eighth NC State player since 2012 to be named to the Midseason Watch List.
In conference play, Cozart leads all NC State batters in batting average (.410), hits (16), doubles (five), RBI (10), total bases (30) and on-base percentage (.510). He ranks seventh among all ACC batters with a .410 batting average in ACC play, fifth with a .769 slugging percentage and sixth with a .510 on-base percentage.
Cozart was recently ranked the second-best catcher in college baseball according to D1Baseball's Week 6 Player Rankings. He has tallied 10 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI performances so far in 2023.
Defensively, Cozart has thrown out three runners on the basepaths and sports a .987 fielding percentage, recording a team-high 209 putouts on the season.
Fan voting will again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2023. Amateur baseball fans can vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com, beginning on May 22 with the naming of the semifinalists. USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award on June 7, and fan voting will once again open at GoldenSpikesAward.com before closing on June 21.
The 2023 Golden Spikes Award timeline is as follows:
• May 22: Golden Spikes Award semifinalists announced and fan voting begins
• June 5: Golden Spikes Award semifinalists fan voting ends
• June 7: Golden Spikes Award finalists announced and fan voting begins
• June 21: Golden Spikes Award finalists' fan voting ends
• June 25: Golden Spikes Award winner announced