Five members of the University of Georgia baseball team have earned All-Southeastern Conference honors, the league office announced Monday.
Sophomore pitcher Emerson Hancock was named First Team All-SEC, senior second baseman LJ Talley and junior third baseman Aaron Schunk made Second Team All-SEC, pitcher Cole Wilcox was part of the Freshman All-SEC squad plus Talley and junior shortstop Cam Shepherd headline the SEC All-Defensive Team.
Hancock (8-2, 1.31 ERA), a Cairo, Ga. native and semifinalist for The Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in ERA. In nine of his 12 starts this year, he allowed zero or one run. His two losses came 1-0 to No. 10 LSU and 2-0 at Tennessee. In eight SEC starts, Hancock went 4-2 with a 1.69 ERA and held opponents to a .157 batting average.
Talley and Schunk are enjoying career years. Talley, who hails from Folkston, Ga., is batting a team-leading .346 with eight home runs and 40 RBI. He has started all 56 games and is fielding .986. Schunk, an Atlanta native and semifinalist for the Olerud Award as a two-way standout, is hitting .343 with a team-best 11 home runs and 44 RBI in 50 games. On the mound, he’s 1-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 11 saves in 16 appearances.
Wilcox, a native of Chickamauga, Ga., is 3-1 with a 4.17 ERA in 17 appearances including four starts. In SEC action, Wilcox is 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 35 innings pitched.
Shepherd, a native of Duluth, Ga., has put together one of the finest defensive seasons ever by an SEC shortstop, going error-free in 30 SEC games in a total of 109 chances. For the year, he’s fielding .990 with just two errors in 206 total chances. At the plate, Shepherd is batting .232 with six home runs and 30 RBI.
Seventh-ranked Georgia (42-14, 21-9 SEC) is the No. 3 seed at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. The Bulldogs will play Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET against the winner of a Tuesday game involving 13th-ranked and No. 6 seed Texas A&M and No. 11 seed Florida. The Bulldogs swept the Gators in Athens this season and did not face the Aggies.
2019 SEC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt
Pitcher of the Year: Ethan Small, Mississippi State
Freshman of the Year: JT Ginn, Mississippi State
Coach of the Year: Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Garrett Stallings, Tennessee
First-Team All-SEC
C: Philip Clarke, Vanderbilt
1B: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
2B: Justin Foscue, Mississippi State
3B: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt
SS: Grae Kessinger, Ole Miss
OF: JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
OF: Alerick Soularie, Tennessee
DH/UT: Nelson Maldonado, Florida
SP: Ethan Small, Mississippi State
SP: Emerson Hancock, Georgia
RP: Tyler Brown, Vanderbilt
Second-Team All-SEC Team
C: Cooper Johnson, Ole Miss
1B: Trevor Ezell, Arkansas
2B: LJ Talley, Georgia
3B: Aaron Schunk, Georgia
SS: Casey Martin, Arkansas
OF: Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas
OF: Heston Kjerstad, Arkansas
OF: Antoine Duplantis, LSU
DH/UT: Matt Goodheart, Arkansas
SP: TJ Sikkema, Missouri
SP: Zack Thompson, Kentucky
RP: Matt Cronin, Arkansas
Freshman All-SEC Team
JT Ginn, SP, Mississippi State
Kumar Rocker, SP, Vanderbilt
Doug Nikhazy, SP, Ole Miss
Cole Henry, SP, LSU
Cole Wilcox, SP, Georgia
Patrick Wicklander, SP, Arkansas
Connor Noland, SP, Arkansas
Ryan Bliss, 2B, Auburn
Christian Franklin, OF, Arkansas
Joseph Menefee, RP, Texas A&M
Kendrick Calilao, 1B, Florida
Brett Kerry, RP, South Carolina
SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Cooper Johnson, Ole Miss
1B: Trevor Ezell, Arkansas*
1B: Julian Infante, Vanderbilt*
2B: LJ Talley, Georgia
3B: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt
SS: Cam Shepherd, Georgia
OF: Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
OF: Zach Watson, LSU
P: Garrett Stallings, Tennessee
*Tie (Ties are not broken)