TicketsFeb. 17, 2009
Just days before the 2009 season begins, senior Mike Spina has been named a preseason honorable-mention All-American by CollegeBaseballInsider.com, the website announced on Feb. 17. Spina was selected to the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Watch List in December and was tabbed a preseason second-team all-America selection by RecruitingCloser.com in January.
Spina is one of five BIG EAST players to be selected as a preseason all-America candidate along with Louisville's Chris Dominguez and Justin Marks, who both earned preseason first-team all-America honors, and Notre Dame's A.J. Pollock and USF's Ryan Lockwood, who join Spina as honorable mention selections.
In 2008, Spina posted a .377 batting average, belted a BIG EAST-best 21 home runs, and drove in a conference leading 79 RBI. Spina also led the conference with a .731 slugging percentage and ranked in the Top 12 of the league in nine statistical categories.
The Newberry, Fla., native was drafted in the 35th round by the Minnesota Twins in the 2008 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, but elected to return to UC for his senior season.
Spina and the Bearcats kick off their season on Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. in St. Petersburg, Fla., against Purdue in the inaugural BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball Challenge. During the opening weekend, UC also takes on perennial Big Ten powers Michigan and Ohio State.