CARY, N.C. – VCU Baseball redshirt sophomore infielder Tyler Locklear has been named to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list, USA Baseball announced Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Golden Spikes Award identifies the top amateur baseball player in the country annually. Locklear is one of 55 players named to the 2022 preseason watch list.
 
A consensus All-American in 2021, Locklear was also the first player in the history of the conference to win both Atlantic 10 Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season. The Abingdon, Md., native was also named to the ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic All-Region First Team and earned Freshman All-American accolades from the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball.
 
Locklear has also been named a 2022 Preseason All-American by D1Baseball, Perfect Game, and Collegiate Baseball.
 
Locklear hit 16 home runs in the spring, which is a VCU freshman record, the second-most in a single season in program history, and tied for the most in the A-10. He also led the conference in runs (69), RBIs (66), on-base percentage (.515) and walks (46), all marks that rank in the top 10 in VCU history for a single season. Locklear also paced the Rams with a .345 batting average, a .686 slugging percentage, and 133 total bases.
 
The Rams earned the A-10's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by capturing their second A-10 championship and seventh conference tournament title overall. The second-seeded Rams opened the Starkville Regional by beating Campbell 19-4 to extend their program-record winning streak to 22 games.
 
The Rams finished the year at 38-16, their seventh straight full season with 34 or more wins.
 
Fan voting will once again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2022. Amateur baseball fans will be able to vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com, starting on May 24 with the naming of the Golden Spikes Award semifinalists. USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award on June 8 and fan voting will open at GoldenSpikesAward.com concurrently, remaining open through June 12.
 
VCU's 2022 schedule features 15 total games against teams that were in the NCAA Championship field in the spring, and opens with a three-game tournament hosted by Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. from Feb. 18-20. For more information on purchasing VCU Baseball tickets, click here.