Ellis Named Golden Spikes Semifinalist

Junior right-hander Chris Ellis continued to garner national attention for his 2014 campaign when he was named as one of 21 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, presented annually to the top collegiate player by USA Baseball.
GoldenSpikesAward.com — powered by MLB Advanced Media — will once again be the online home for the award. The website features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, voting history, past winner photo galleries, and photographs and biographical information for the 2014 semifinalists. Fans can follow online at GoldenSpikesAward.com as the list of 21 players is narrowed to a group of finalists onTuesday, June 3.
Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award with fan voting officially opening with the announcement of the semifinalists. Fans can go to GoldenSpikesAward.com and vote for three players on the list as their choices for the award. Voting will remain open through Friday, May 30.
Ellis, who started every weekend as the Friday night pitcher in the Ole Miss rotation, was one of only two pitchers in the rugged Southeastern Conference to finish the regular season undefeated after starting all 14 weeks of play. He suffered his first loss in the SEC Tournament, taking the decision in a 2-1 loss to No. 20 Arkansas.
The right-hander holds a 9-1 record on the season with a 2.17 ERA through 15 starts and 95.1 innings of work. He tossed his first complete-game of his career with a win over Georgia State in the second week of competition and helped the Rebels win 11-of-14 series played. Ole Miss swept six of those series, while posting series wins in seven weekends in SEC play – sweeping three of them.
In his decisions, Ellis picked up wins over Stetson, Georgia State, at No. 1 South Carolina, Missouri, at No. 13 Mississippi State, at No. 17 Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia and at Texas A&M.
Ellis combined for a shutout of Stetson to open the season and did not allow an earned run through five of his first six starts. His first earned run allowed came at No. 1 South Carolina to open SEC competition in the fifth week of the season. In eight of his 15 starts, Ellis has allowed one earned runs or less. He has allowed two earned runs or less in 12-of-15 starts this season.
Ole Miss will take the field to open NCAA Regional play on Friday, May 20, with Ellis making his 16^th start of the season at 7 p.m. against Jacksonville State at Swayze Field.
–Bill Bunting, Ole Miss Sports Information