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Trio of Vols named semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•05/16/24•

_Cainer

Just hours before the Vols take on South Carolina in the final regular season series of the year, three Tennessee juniors were announced as semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, an award annually given to the national college baseball player of the year.

The three players include second baseman Christian Moore, first baseman Blake Burke and third baseman Billy Amick as the award is presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Moore, who was named the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Player of the Month for April, has already been named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week this season on two separate occasions. He was also named the Perfect Game and D1 Baseball National Player of the Week on April 22. The second baseman was a member of the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and has reached two milestones in Tennessee baseball history in 2024.

The Brooklyn, NY native is the program’s all-time leading home run hitter with 51 career bombs and recently tied Sonny Cortez (1998) for 24 single season home runs – the most in single season history for the Vols. Moore has also driven in a team-high 57 runs from the leadoff spot to go along with the 24 homers and leads the club with a .377 batting average.

Burke was named a Midseason All-American by both the D1 Baseball and Perfect Game publications earlier this season. The first baseman is currently tied for sixth in the nation with 22 doubles and is second behind Moore with a .368 batting average. Burke has driven in 44 runs from the second spot in the order, hit 15 homers and scored 55 runs to go along with being safe on eight of nine stolen base attempts.

Amick has flourished in Knoxville after transferring over from Clemson last summer, registering the third-highest batting average for the team with a .347 clip. Despite missing eight games while recovering from an appendectomy, Amick is second behind Moore with 18 home runs and has driven in a third-best 48 runs. The third baseman is a one-time SEC Player of the Week recipient and was named to the Perfect Game Midseason All-American First Team.     

Together, the trio has blasted 57 of Tennessee’s 134 home runs and driven in 149 of 467 RBI total for the Vols. The trio has combined to become one of the best-hitting top of the orders in all of college baseball this season. All three are draft eligible players and are expected to be selected in the early rounds of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft.

Former Vol and MLB Hall of Famer Todd Helton is the only Tennessee player to win the award, as he did so to conclude the 1995 season.

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