BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After a record-setting week at the plate, Tennessee had two players earn SEC weekly honors, the conference announced on Monday afternoon.
Trey Lipscomb was named SEC Co-Player of the Week while Jared Dickey earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
Lipscomb had a monster week as the Vols dominated UNC Asheville on Wednesday before sweeping Iona over the weekend. The senior third baseman became just the fourth player in program history to hit for the cycle, going 5-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and a homer in Friday’s series-opening win over the Gaels. He also had a career-high nine RBIs in the game, one shy of the single-game program record.
Lipscomb followed that performance by finishing a double short of the cycle in Saturday’s game, going 3-for-4 with a triple, a homer and three RBIs. He capped his impressive week with another multi-hit and multi-RBI performance, going 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of RBIs. For the week, Lipscomb hit .786 and led the team with three doubles, two triples, three homers, 16 RBIs, 27 total bases and a 1.929 slugging percentage. The Maryland native leads the SEC and ranks second nationally with 20 RBIs through seven games this season.
This is the first SEC weekly honor for Lipscomb in his career. He is the first Vol to win SEC Player of the Week since his predecessor at third base Jake Rucker did it on April 26 last year.
Dickey also earned his first SEC weekly honor and joins Blade Tidwell as the only Vols to be named SEC Freshman of the Week since 2009. The redshirt freshman had breakout week for the Big Orange, recording a hit in all four games despite making just one start.
Dickey was retired just once in 13 plate appearances over four games and led the team with an .875 batting average, nine runs scored, five walks, a .923 on-base percentage and two stolen bases. The Mount Juliet, Tennessee, native also hit a pair of homers on the week, blasting solo shots in Wednesday’s win over UNC Asheville and Sunday’s victory over Iona. His homer on Wednesday was the first of his career.
Dickey’s most impressive performance came in Sunday’s victory over the Gaels, where he started at catcher and reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two walks, four runs scored and a home run, all career highs.
The Vols will look to continue their hot start this week when they host in-state rival ETSU on Tuesday before heading to Houston for the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park this weekend.
-UT Athletics
