Nashville, Tenn. – Former Vanderbilt pitcher David Price won the Golden Spikes Award, an honor given to the nation’s best amateur baseball player, Saturday.
Taken first in the draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Price was a finalist in 2006 for the award, given out annually by USA Baseball.
Price, the first Golden Spikes Award winner from Vanderbilt, finished his junior season with an 11-1 record, a 2.63 ERA and 194 strikeouts. He broke the school’s career strikeout record with 441 in three seasons and 313 innings.
The pinch-hit homer he gave up to Michigan’s Alan Oaks in an NCAA regional helped knock the Commodores out of the tournament and kept them from reaching the College World Series.
“It’s always great to get an award like this,” he said. “I would have loved to go to Omaha and win that, but this is a good personal accomplishment.”
The other finalists were Vanderbilt teammate Pedro Alvarez, Florida’s Matt LaPorta, Florida State’s Tony Thomas and Texas’ Kyle Russell.
BOXING
Holyfield wins unanimous decision
Evander Holyfield outworked and outclassed Lou Savarese in El Paso, Texas, winning a 10-round unanimous decision to remain undefeated in his latest comeback.
Holyfield, the 44-year-old former heavyweight champion, started and ended the fight with hard lefts to the head of the 41-year-old Savarese. In between, Holyfield was in control.
The judges scored it 98-90, 99-87 and 96-91.
Felix Sturm retained his WBA middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Noe Tulio Gonzalez Alcoba in Stuttgart, Germany.
SAILING
Swiss champ takes third straight race
America’s Cup defender Alinghi pounced on a sudden wind shift to secure a come-from-behind victory in Valencia, Spain, and take a 4-2 lead in the first-to- five series for the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sport.
“Obviously it’s tough,” Kiwi skipper Dean Barker said after a third straight loss to the Swiss yacht. “You can’t lie and say we don’t have our backs to the wall here.”
Alinghi’s 28-second win means that Emirates Team New Zealand must take three straight races, beginning today, in what has already proved to be one of the closest contests in the 156-year history of the cup.
“I certainly prefer to be in my position than Team New Zealand’s,” said Alinghi founder and crewman Ernesto Bertarelli.
FOONOTES
U.S. settles for tie in under-20 opener
Columbus Crew midfielder Danny Szetela scored on a 16th-minute header and Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Chris Seitz stopped 12 shots in the United States’ 1-1 draw with South Korea in the under-20 World Cup opener for both teams in Montreal.
After Szetela’s header off Sal Zizzo’s cross, the South Koreans tied the score in the 38th minute on a goal by Shin Young-rok and finished with a 13-7 advantage in shots.
Emergency starter Zach Wells made three saves to help the Houston Dynamo tie FC Dallas 0-0 in MLS action in Frisco, Texas.
Pat Onstad, the MLS leader in goals-against average, twisted his back during warmups.
Kei Kamara scored his second goal of the season and the Columbus Crew beat the visiting New York Red Bulls, ending Juan Pablo Angel’s goal streak at six games.
Venezuela won for the first time in 40 years at the Copa America in Maracaibo, Venezuela, beating Peru 2-0 to lead Group A and position itself to reach the quarterfinals.
The St. Louis Blues signed center Keith Tkachuk to a two-year contract, one day before he would have become an unrestricted free agent. The Canadian Press reported the deal was for $8 million.
The Minnesota Wild re-signed defenseman Martin Skoula, who played with the Colorado Avalanche until 2004, and center Mikko Koivu to multiyear contracts. Terms of the deals weren’t announced.
Nashville center Scott Nichol and defenseman Alex Henry have agreed to contract terms with the Predators.
Nichol signed a two-year deal that will pay him $750,000 each season, general manager David Poile said. Henry signed a one-year contract that will pay him $100,000 at the minor-league level and $475,000 at the NHL level.
Veteran forward Adam Mair re-signed for three years with the Buffalo Sabres.
Penny Taylor scored 26 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury to a 92-75 win, snapping the Houston Comets’ four-game winning streak.
