LOS ANGELES – Former Mercer University outfielder Kyle Lewis was awarded one of college baseball’s most prestigious honors Thursday evening, as he was named the 39th recipient of the Golden Spikes Award during a live presentation on SportsCenter at ESPN’s Los Angeles studio.

The Golden Spikes Award is Lewis’ third national player of the year honor. He beat out three other finalists: Louisville Corey Ray, Florida’s Logan Shore and Clemson’s Seth Beer.

Lewis – the No. 11 overall pick by the Seattle Mariners in 2016 MLB Draft on June 9 – joins an elite list of players to be win the Golden Spikes Award, including current major league All-Stars such as Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant, Stephen Strasburg, David Price and Buster Posey, among others.

In addition to consensus All-America first-team honors, the Snellville, Ga., native has been named the Baseball America National Player of the Year, American Baseball Coaches Association Player of the Year and a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist. He was also named the Southern Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season.

En route to leading the Bears to a second straight SoCon regular-season title and their seventh straight season with 35 wins or more, Lewis established himself as one of college baseball’s premier players. He led the nation’s second-best power-hitting team with 20 home runs and 72 RBIs, which ranked sixth and fifth nationally, while ranking top-five nationally in walks (66), on-base percentage (.535) and runs (70) and top-15 nationally in batting average (.395).

The former Bear is the first player in SoCon history and second from the state of Georgia (Georgia Tech’s Jason Varitek, 1994) to win the award.

The Golden Spikes Award has been presented by USA Baseball since 1978 to honor the top amateur baseball player in the nation. The award is sponsored by Major League Baseball and is presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation.