CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson junior righthander Aidan Knaak (Fort Myers, Fla.) was one of 55 players named to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list on Friday. The award is presented each year by USA Baseball to the national player-of-the-year. The preseason first-team All-American is one of the leaders of the Tigers, who are ranked as high as No. 17 in the preseason polls by USA Today.
Knaak is a two-time, First-Team All-ACC selection. He is 14-2 with a 3.78 ERA, .217 opponents’ batting average and 218 strikeouts against 58 walks in 173.2 innings pitched over 31 starts in his two seasons at Clemson.