Four of college baseball’s brightest talents touched down in Los Angeles this week and headed to the ESPN studios, each hoping to hear his name called — and history was made.

Cal baseball’s rising junior Andrew Vaughn is the 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner, becoming the first Bear in the program’s history to win the coveted title.

The infielder beat out the other three finalists — Auburn pitcher Casey Mize, Florida pitcher Brady Singer and Texas infielder Kody Clemens — and walked away with the hardware.

The Bears’ leading hitter, Vaughn is the first finalist from Cal since Lance Blankenship in 1984. Based on his career statistics, along with his standout sophomore campaign, Vaughn’s nomination for this prestigious award was nothing but expected. Earlier this month, he was also named the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

Throughout the 2018 season, Vaughn dominated in the Pac-12 with a conference-high batting average of .402, and his consistency at the plate placed him top three in Cal’s single-season history.

In his freshman season, Vaughn was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. During his rookie campaign, he managed to maintain a .996 fielding percentage as an infielder, and he finished 2018 with a .992 fielding percentage.

Vaughn will remain at Cal for the 2018-19 season and will be eligible for the 2019 MLB draft — the sky is the limit for his junior year.