Four Vols named Preseason All-Americans by D1 Baseball

The accolades continue to roll in for Tennessee baseball as four Vols were named Preseason All-Americans by D1 Baseball Monday morning. Two of the four players acknowledged by the publication also reeled in the same honor from Baseball America just hours prior.

Starting pitchers Chase Dollander and Chase Burns highlight the list for Tennessee with first-team recognition from D1 Baseball. The Vols also had a pair of third-team selections with starting pitcher Drew Beam and transfer short stop Maui Ahuna.

In all, No. 2 Tennessee – as voted on by the publication earlier this month – leads all teams from the Southeastern Conference with four D1 Baseball preseason All-American selections.

The SEC leads all conferences with seven players on the first team and 16 All-Americans overall. The ACC is second in both categories, with four members of the first team and 12 overall. The Pac-12 is third with two players on the first team and seven overall. The Big 12 and Big Ten each placed one player on the first team and four overall. The WAC and Sun Belt each have two All-Americans, while the A-10, Big South, CAA and Conference USA are represented with one All-American apiece.

Resumes shine bright ahead of 2023 season

Dollander, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound hurler, exploded out of the gates for Tennessee last spring. He finished the campaign with a spotless 10-0 record and 2.39 ERA. The then-sophomore was named to six All-American teams and was honored as the SEC Pitcher of the Year by season’s end. Dollander was tabbed to the SEC All-Tournament Team after striking out nine LSU batters and allowing just four hits and one earned run over 6.2 innings.

Named the Friday night starter as a true freshman in 2022, Burns impressed with an 8-2 record and 2.92 ERA in his first season on Rocky Top. The Beech standout was named the D1 Baseball Freshman of the Year and tossed a season-best seven innings versus Ole Miss on March 25. Burns tapped out with 103 strikeouts on the year, including 10 against Texas and 11 against the Rebels. The freshman also struck out nine batters on two other occasions.

Beam was typically the No. 3 starter as a true freshman in 2022 but had Friday night stuff the whole way through. The Blackmon graduate finished his first season in Knoxville with an 8-1 record, sporting a 2.72 ERA. Outdueling teammate Burns, Beam was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, notching a season-high 10 strikeouts against Alabama on April 17.

Ahuna, one of MLB Pipeline’s top draft prospects for the 2023 cycle, is prepped for his first season in Knoxville by way of Kansas through the transfer portal. The short stop, who started every game as a freshman and sophomore, posted a .396 average with eight home runs, 48 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 2022. He led the ballclub in average, on-base percentage (.479), slugging percentage (.634), hits (80), triples (4), walks (28) and stolen bags.

The infielder finished the campaign riding a 20-game hit-streak and tallied 23 multi-hit days, including 10 three-hit performances. Defensively, Ahuna made SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays twice for his work on the dirt. The new Volunteer spent his sophomore summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.

How the process works

D1Baseball’s editors and national writers select the preseason All-America teams with one guiding principle in mind: to identify the best and most valuable college baseball players for the 2023 season. Past performance and future potential factor into the deliberations, but the goal is neither to identify the best future major leaguers nor to reward the players who have put up the gaudiest numbers in past seasons (particularly since the level of competition varies significantly from one conference to another). The objective is to select the players who would provide the most value for a team that wanted to win the College World Series in 2023 — the players who are best equipped to perform against elite college competition this spring.

Tennessee Baseball Preseason Honors

INF Maui Ahuna | Preseason All-American Third Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, D1 Baseball | No. 4 on D1 Baseball Top-100 Impact Transfer List

RHP Drew Beam | Preseason All-American Second Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game | Preseason All-American Third Team – D1 Baseball

RHP Chase Burns | Preseason All-American First Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America, D1 Baseball

RHP Chase Dollander | Preseason All-American First Team – Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America, D1 Baseball | Perfect Game Preseason Pitcher of the Year

RHP Camden Sewell | Preseason All-American Second Team – Collegiate Baseball

OF Jared Dickey | Preseason All-American Third Team – Baseball America

OF Griffin Merritt | No. 14 on D1 Baseball Top-100 Impact Transfer List

INF Zane Denton | No. 47 on D1 Baseball Top-100 Impact Transfer List

Tennessee Baseball Preseason Rankings

D1 Baseball – No. 2

Perfect Game – No. 2

Baseball American – No. 2

Collegiate Baseball – No. 5