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Feb. 15, 2013

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma baseball team's junior left-handed pitcher Dillon Overton and junior right-handed pitcher Jonathan Gray have been named to the 2013 Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. The OU aces are among 50 of the nation's top amateur players named to the list.

The No. 14 Sooners enter 2013 as the Big 12 Conference's top-ranked squad, according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, with aces Overton and Gray serving as the anchors of the pitching staff. Last season's weekend rotation of Gray, Overton and Jordan John, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Detroit Tigers, became the first trio in Oklahoma history to each strike out 100 batters in a single season.

Overton earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors in 2012 after ranking second in the Big 12 in both strikeouts (126) and innings pitched (122.2). He went 6-3 with a 3.15 ERA over 22 appearances, including 16 starts. The Weatherford, Okla., native owns a career record of 14-7 and a career ERA of 2.83, fanning 185 over 45 appearances and 197.0 innings pitched. He garnered First Team Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after going 8-4 with a 2.30 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 2011.

Gray went 8-4 with a 3.16 ERA and 104 strikeouts over 18 starts and 102.2 innings pitched in his first season with the Sooners after transferring to Oklahoma from Eastern Oklahoma State. A native of Chandler, Okla., Gray's eight pitching victories tied for sixth-most in the Big 12.

The Golden Spikes Award will carry a rolling watch list to ensure that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the award. The Golden Spikes Award trophy will be awarded live on the MLB Network for the third year in a row with a presentation scheduled during The Rundown on Friday, July 19.

Following the release of a second, 60-player watch list on Thursday, May 2, USA Baseball officials will announce the 30 semifinalists for the 2013 Golden Spikes Award on Tuesday, May 28. The list of 30 will then be sent to a voting body consisting of past USA Baseball National Team coaches and press officers, members of the media that closely follow the amateur game, select professional baseball personnel and current USA Baseball staff, representing a group of more than 200 voters in total.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2013. Tuesday, May 28, marks the first day when amateur baseball fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalist on GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of 30. On Tuesday, June 4, USA Baseball will announce the three finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day.

The Sooners are seeking to make another run at the NCAA Men's College World Series in 2013 under head coach Sunny Golloway's watch. Oklahoma posted a 42-25 mark last season and reached its third Super Regional in program history. OU is looking to make its sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 36th overall appearance. The Sooners have reached the CWS on 10 previous occasions, winning national championships in 1951 and 1994.

Oklahoma begins the season with a four-game set against Hofstra Feb. 15-17 at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Fans can purchase tickets online on SoonerSports.com or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU.