Tennessee baseball: 6 Vols make All-SEC team
Tennessee baseball put together another great season, and the Vols look to take their third trip to Omaha in the past four seasons. The Vols won another regular-season SEC Championship after finishing the regular season 46-10 and 22-8 in the SEC.
Tony Vitello's squad also won eight of nine SEC series, including eight straight to end the season, which was just enough to push the Vols over Kentucky for the regular season SEC Championship. The Vols and Wildcats both finished the season 22-8 in the SEC, but Tennessee owns the tiebreaker after winning two of three in Lexington earlier this year.
As a result of Tennessee's great season, several players made the All-SEC teams, as announced by the conference on Monday. Tennessee has six players on the All-SEC teams and a seventh Vol made the awards list, with Drew Beam named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Two Vols players made the First Team All-SEC. Vols second baseman Christian Moore and outfielder Dylan Dreiling made the first team, which isn't surprising to many.
Moore specifically had the best run since the start of SEC play of any team in the conference, posting a .429 average with 20 home runs, six doubles, and 41 RBIs. Dreiling hit .333 in conference play with ten home runs, eight doubles, and 35 RBIs.
The Second Team All-SEC list included first baseman Blake Burke and outfielder Kavares Tears. Vols got a lot of power out of Burke, who competed with Moore for the most home runs in program history throughout the season and finished the year hitting .341 with seven home runs, 18 doubles, and 24 RBIs.
Burke and Tears are also defensive threats. Burke took a big step in developing his defense from last season, which is why both players also made the SEC All-Defensive Team. Tears posted a perfect 100% fielding percentage with 40 putouts, while Burke posted a fielding percentage of 98.7% while recording 208 putouts and three errors.
The final Vol to make the All-SEC list is shortstop Dean Curley, who made the Freshman All-SEC Team. Curley posted a .284 batting average with nine home runs, 18 doubles, and 37 RBIs on the year. He showed flashes throughout the season and has a lot of potential after his freshman season.
Here's the full list of SEC honors after the 2024 baseball season:
2024 SEC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: Charlie Condon, Georgia
Pitcher of the Year: Hagen Smith, Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Drew Beam, Tennessee
Coach of the Year: Nick Mingione, Kentucky
First Team All-SEC
C: Jackson Appel, Texas A&M
1B: Jac Caglianone, Florida
2B: Christian Moore, Tennessee
3B: Charlie Condon, Georgia
SS: Justin Lebron, Alabama*
SS: David Mershon, Mississippi State*
OF: Braden Montgomery, Texas A&M
OF: Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M
OF: Dylan Dreiling, Tennessee
SP: Hagen Smith, Arkansas
SP: Khal Stephen, Mississippi State
RP: Evan Aschenbeck, Texas A&M
DH/UT: Ike Irish, Auburn*
DH/UT: Nick Lopez, Kentucky*
Second Team All-SEC
C: Cole Messina, South Carolina
1B: Blake Burke, Tennessee
2B: Peyton Stovall, Arkansas
3B: Tommy White, LSU
SS: Wehiwa Aloy, Arkansas
OF: Kavares Tears, Tennessee
OF: Ryan Waldschmidt, Kentucky
OF: Dakota Jordan, Mississippi State
SP: Ryan Prager, Texas A&M
SP: Luke Holman, LSU
RP: Griffin Herring, LSU
Freshman All-SEC Team
Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M
Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas
Justin Lebron, Alabama
Dean Curley, Tennessee
Tre Phelps, Georgia
Caden Sorrell, Texas A&M
Zane Adams, Alabama
Steven Milam, LSU
Ashton Larson, LSU
Cade Belyeu, Auburn
Liam Peterson, Florida
Nolan Souza, Arkansas
SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Fernando Gonzalez, Georgia
1B: Blake Burke, Tennessee
2B: Emilien Pitre, Kentucky
3B: Jared Sprague-Lott, Arkansas*
3B: Mitchell Daly, Kentucky*
SS: Justin Lebron, Alabama
OF: Braden Montgomery, Texas A&M
OF: Kavares Tears, Tennessee
OF: Peyton Holt, Arkansas*
OF: Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M
P: Mason Moore, Kentucky