HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee Baseball’s Jordan Rodgers has been named a 2017 First Team All-Southeastern Conference third baseman while Andre Lipcius has also been recognized as a Freshman All-SEC first baseman, as announced by the league office on Monday.
With the nominations, Tennessee has two players recognized for postseason All-SEC honors for the first time since 2014, when VFLs Christin Stewart (First Team) and Nick Senzel (Freshman) were also named to the same respective All-SEC lists.
Rodgers becomes the first Volunteer to earn First Team All-SEC honors since Stewart did so in 2015 and is the first UT player to receive All-SEC honors since former teammate Senzel (Second Team) took home the award in 2016. The last Vol to receive a First Team All-SEC nod at third base was VFL and current New York Yankee Chase Headley in 2005.
As a senior on Rocky Top in 2017, Rodgers hit a career-best .322 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs. He committed just four errors over 160 total chances with 117 assists at the hot corner, good for a .975 fielding percentage.
Highlighting his final season for the Orange and White, the Bartlett, Tenn., native cranked a grand slam against Vanderbilt on April 29, helping UT to a 5-3 win in Nashville.
As a junior in 2016, Rodgers led the NCAA in RBI through the start of SEC play, finishing the year ranking tied for fourth in the SEC with 56 RBIs. On April 1, 2016 vs. Kentucky, he also became the third Volunteer in school history to hit for the cycle and the first since VFL Matt Duffy accomplished the feat on March 9, 2011.
Rodgers finished his UT career with 156 games played, 157 hits, 13 homers and 105 RBIs (2014-17).
In his first year at Tennessee, Lipcius becomes the Vols’ first Freshman All-SEC player since Senzel in 2014, as well as the first freshman Vol to earn the award at first base since current Major Leaguer Yan Gomes did so in 2007.
In 2017, Lipcius was the lone Vol to start and play in each of Tennessee’s 52 games. He hit .275 with a team-leading 11 doubles and 26 RBIs. At first base, he was charged with just four errors over 470 chances, including 443 putouts, and helped UT turn 33 double plays – tied for fifth-most in the league.
The Williamsburg, Va., native posted a 21-game streak of reaching base safely to begin his collegiate career with Tennessee (Feb. 17 – March 26).
-UT Athletics
2017 SEC Baseball Awards Announced
HOOVER, Ala. (May, 22, 2017)—–The Southeastern Conference on Monday announced its 2017 Baseball Awards and All-SEC Teams, recognizing standout performances from this season. The 2017 SEC Baseball Tournament will be played Tuesday through Sunday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Mississippi State’s Brent Rooker was named the SEC Player of the Year, Kentucky’s Sean Hjelle is the SEC Pitcher of the Year, Texas A&M’s Braden Shewmake is the SEC Freshman of the Year, Kentucky’s Nick Mingione is the SEC Coach of the Year and Kentucky’s Zach Logue is the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Rooker leads the SEC in several offensive categories, including batting average (.415), hits (85), RBI (73), home runs (20), doubles (28), slugging percentage (.873) and total bases (179). He is the first Mississippi State player to reach 20 home runs, 20 doubles, 70 RBI, and the first SEC hitter to do so since 2000.
Hjelle is 9-2 this season with a 3.17 ERA, including a 7-1 mark in SEC action with a 1.90 ERA. His nine wins this season move him into a tie for 6th place on Kentucky’s single-season wins list. Hjelle has allowed one earned run or less in six of his last seven starts and has given up six or fewer hits in his last 12 starts.
Shewmake is a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree, and he is batting .342 with 39 runs, 16 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs and 64 RBI. He ranks second in the SEC in RBI, fourth in hits and fourth in total bases.
Mingione was named SEC Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm of the Wildcats. Kentucky’s 38 wins on the season are the most since 2012, and 38 wins are the most for a first-year Kentucky head coach. Kentucky finished second in the Eastern Division and earned the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament.
Logue has earned a 3.96 GPA in Chemical Engineering at Kentucky. He is a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, and he is 6-5 with a 5.03 ERA and has 76 strikeouts in 77.0 innings this season.
2017 SEC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State
Pitcher of the Year: Sean Hjelle, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Braden Shewmake, Texas A&M
Coach of the Year: Nick Mingione, Kentucky
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Zach Logue, Kentucky
First-Team All-SEC
C: Grant Koch, Arkansas
1B: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State
2B: Braden Shewmake, Texas A&M
3B: Jordan Rodgers, Tennessee
SS: Ryan Gridley, Mississippi State
OF: Greg Deichmann, LSU
OF: Tristan Pompey, Kentucky
OF: Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt
DH/UT: Michael Curry, Georgia
SP: Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt
*SP: Sean Hjelle, Kentucky
*SP: Alex Lange, LSU
RP: Logan Salow, Kentucky
Second-Team All-SEC Team
C: Troy Squires, Kentucky
1B: Evan White, Kentucky
2B: Riley Mahan, Kentucky
3B: Colby Bortles, Ole Miss
*SS: Kramer Robertson, LSU
*SS: Jax Biggers, Arkansas
OF: Jonah Todd, Auburn
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
OF: Chandler Taylor, Alabama
DH/UT: JJ Schwarz, Florida
SP: Alex Faedo, Florida
SP: Brady Singer, Florida
RP: Michael Byrne, Florida
Freshman All-SEC Team
C: Hunter Coleman, Texas A&M
1B: Andre Lipcius, Tennessee
2B: Braden Shewmake, Texas A&M
3B: Josh Smith, LSU
SS: Cam Shepherd, Georgia
OF: Carlos Cortes, South Carolina
OF: Zach Watson, LSU
OF: Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas
DH/UT: Logan Foster, Texas A&M
SP: Ryan Rolison, Ole Miss
SP: Eric Walker, LSU
RP: T.J. Sikkema, Missouri
SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Michael Papierski, LSU
1B: Evan White, Kentucky
2B: Deacon Liput, Florida
3B: Josh Smith, LSU
SS: Dalton Guthrie, Florida
OF: Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt
OF: Jonah Todd, Auburn
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
P: Brigham Hill, Texas A&M
* – Denotes a tie in voting. Ties are not broken.
-SEC
