The 2017 SEC baseball awards have been released and the Kentucky Wildcats were well represented.
Kentucky had a great season on the diamond this year. The ‘Cats came within one game of winning the conference, and are currently no. 10 in Baseball America’s top 25 rankings. On Monday, they were rewarded for their body of work thus far, earning six All-SEC selections, as well as Coach of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
All-SEC Selections
1st Team- OF Tristan Pompey, SP Sean Hjelle (also SEC Pitcher of the Year), RP Logan Salow
2nd Team- C Troy Squires, 1B Evan White (also SEC All-Defensive Team), 2B Riley Mahan
Coach of the Year
Nick Mingione
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
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P Zach Logue
In his first year as head coach, Nick Mingione made his presence known at Kentucky and in the baseball world. Coming from Mississippi State, Mingione led the best offensive team in the conference. The Wildcats were first in numerous offensive categories, including batting average, on base pct, slugging pct, runs scored, and hits. With these numbers, it’s no wonder they were able to place six players on first and second team All-SEC.
The ‘Cats weren’t all offense either. With a perfect fielding percentage, 1B Evan White was named to the SEC’s All-Defensive team. On the hill, Kentucky’s ace Sean Hjelle was named SEC Pitcher of the Year. With names such as Florida’s Alex Faedo, and LSU’s Alex Lange, this is quite the achievement for Hjelle. The 6’11 sophomore went 9-2 with an ERA of 3.17 on the season, while losing just one start in SEC play.
To top it all off, Kentucky showed they excel in the classroom as well. The conference’s Scholar-Athlete of the year is junior P Zach Logue. Logue earned a 3.96 GPA in Chemical Engineering. Impressive.
Kentucky still has work to do, though. It was a regular season to remember in Lexington, but I’m sure the Wildcats would like to get to Omaha. Their postseason quest begins Wednesday in the SEC tournament, against South Carolina.