The Southeastern Conference player of the year topped the SEC pitcher of the year in claiming college baseball’s most coveted individual honor.
Arkansas junior shortstop Wehiwa Aloy was named Saturday night as the winner of the Golden Spikes Award, earning the honor over Tennessee junior pitcher Liam Doyle and Florida State junior shortstop Alex Lodise. Aloy is the third consecutive Golden Spikes recipient from an SEC school, joining LSU’s Dylan Crews in 2023 and Georgia’s Charlie Condon last year.
He is also the third Razorbacks player to win the honor, following Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and Kevin Kopps in 2022.
“In a season that featured outstanding individual efforts from a wide range of players, Wehiwa Aloy stood above the rest,” USA Baseball executive director Paul Seiler said via a release. “Wehiwa’s 2025 season was nothing short of incredible to watch, and he is greatly deserving of this honor. We are excited for Wehiwa to join our incredible family of Golden Spikes Award winners.”
Aloy played in all 65 games for the Razorbacks, who reached the College World Series semifinals before getting eliminated 6-5 Wednesday night by LSU. He hit .350 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs, averaging slightly more than one RBI per contest.
Doyle went 10-4 with a 3.20 earned run average in 19 appearances with Tony Vitello’s Volunteers, which included 17 starts. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from Derry, New Hampshire, racked up 164 strikeouts in 96 innings pitched.
His strikeout tally led the nation until recently being passed by LSU’s Kade Anderson, who started Saturday night’s CWS best-of-three championship series opener against Coastal Carolina.
Lodise played in 58 games for the Seminoles, hitting .394 with 17 homers and 68 RBIs. Earlier this month, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year was the winner of the Dick Howser Trophy, another national player of the year honor for which Aloy, Doyle and UCLA sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky were the other finalists.
The Golden Spikes Award was implemented in 1978, when Arizona State third baseman Bob Horner won the honor. Horner hit .412 in 60 games with the Sun Devils and then went straight to the Atlanta Braves, hitting .266 in 89 contests before hitting .314 during his first complete Braves season in 1979.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.