OMAHA, Neb. – University of South Carolina Aiken baseball player Nick Aranas has been selected to the prestigious 2011 Tino Martinez Award Watch List.
The Tino Martinez Award is given each year to the Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Division II baseball. The annual honor is named after the former University of Tampa Spartan, Olympian and Major League Baseball All-Star, Tino Martinez.
Nominations for the award were made by baseball sports information contacts and media members. The list will be updated with a midseason release in mid April. Semifinalists are scheduled to be announced on May 7 with the finalists to be named on May 19. After the finalists are named fans will once again be invited to vote online at tinoaward.com to help determine the winner.
The winner will be announced after the conclusion of the Division II Baseball Championship held in Cary, N.C. from May 28 to June 4.
The naming to the watch list is the third award that Aranas has picked up already in the 2011 season. A senior, Aranas was recently chosen to the Peach Belt Conference preseason All-Conference team as a third baseman. Aranas was also recently named a 2011 preseason NCAA Division II All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Aranas, who is currently out of the Pacer lineup due to an injury, ended his junior season by being named to the 2010 NCAA Division II Daktronics All-America Baseball first team as a designated hitter.
Aranas finished the 2010 season leading the Pacers with a .415 (83-for-200) batting average. The batting average was the third-best in the Peach Belt Conference last year.
In total, the Lexington, S.C. native finished the 2010 season in the top 15 in the PBC in six different categories.
Aranas was second-best among all Pacers in 2010 with 53 RBIs and 46 runs scored. He was second on the squad in total bases over the course of the year as well with 129.
Aranas slugged a team second-best .645 and had a team-high on-base percentage of .481. Aranas captured a team-high 29 multiple hit games in 2010, including 21 two-hit games.
He was second on the squad in multiple RBI games with 14. He was also second on the squad with 25 extra-base knocks. He had a team-high tying 13 doubles to go along with three triples and nine home runs.
The Lexington High School product owned the team season-high hitting streak, securing a hit in 14 consecutive games at one point during the regular season.
USC Aiken will be back in action this weekend when the Buccaneers of Barry University visit Aiken for a three-game weekend series. Action will get started at Roberto Hernandez Stadium on Friday with a 4 p.m. game. The second game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. The final game of the series will be at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
All three of the games in the series will be able to be followed live on USC Aiken's official athletic website at www.PacerSports.com.
