CARY, N.C. – Two California baseball student-athletes were selected to the 55-player preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list, which was announced by USA Baseball on Friday.  
 
Junior outfielder Rodney Green Jr. and junior catcher Caleb Lomavita are among the nation's top 55 amateur baseball players who were named to the watch list. The Golden Spikes Award is earned annually by the top amateur baseball player in the country. A rolling list of players will be maintained throughout the season, allowing athletes to play themselves into consideration for the award.
 
Lomavita and Green are coming off impressive sophomore seasons in which both were named 2023 All-Pac-12 players, and the duo has already been tabbed with 2024 preseason All-Pac-12 honors.
 
Green had a breakout campaign in 2023, as  he was one of three Bears to start every game and finished the year putting up career-best numbers in hits (49), doubles (9), home runs (14), RBI (37) and stolen bases (28).
 
Lomavita led the Bears in home runs in 2023 with 16, and he needs just six more to crack Cal's top-10 career list for home runs. Earlier this week he was named a Preseason Second Team All-American by Baseball America. The two-time Cape Cod All-Star is coming off a stellar campaign in which he put up career-bests in runs scored (47), hits (65), doubles (13), home runs (16), slugging percentage (.612) – all while cutting down his strikeout total in half from his freshman campaign.
 
Cal is one of nine teams nationally to be represented by multiple athletes on the 2024 watch list, joining Arkansas (2), Tennessee (3), Virginia (2), Texas Tech (2), Oklahoma State (2), Wake Forest (4), Kansas State (2), LSU (2), Texas A&M (2) and South Carolina (2). Overall, 41 schools and 16 conferences are represented on the initial list.
 
Since 2008, Cal has had 17 selections total selections, most notably including 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner and two-time finalist (2018, 2019) Andrew Vaughn. The former Golden Bear standout and current Chicago White Sox is Cal's lone two-time selection to the award watch list.  

Fan voting will once again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2024. Cal fans will be able to vote for Green and Lomavita on GoldenSpikesAward.com, starting on May 20 with the naming of the Golden Spikes Award semifinalists. USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award on June 5 and fan voting will open at GoldenSpikesAward.com concurrently, remaining open through June 21.
 
To stay up-to-date on the 2024 Golden Spikes Award visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Twitter and Instagram.

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