Tennessee slated to win the East by league coaches, four Vols named Preseason All-SEC

Tennessee has been picked to win the eastern division in 2023 and four Vols have been named Preseason All-Southeastern Conference just ahead of the new year. The league made the announced via press release Thursday morning, as voted on by the 14 head coaches.

The Vols picked up 12 first-place votes, coming in ahead of fellow SEC East foes in the preseason predictions. Florida placed second, while picking up a pair of first-place nods. Vanderbilt was next in third followed by South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri in seventh. Tennessee accumulated 90 points in the eastern division voting while Florida’s 79 were next-closest.

For the western division, LSU dominated its way to the top-spot much like its counterpart in the East (Tennessee) with 12 first-place votes. Texas A&M, who registered a first-place nod, came in second with Arkansas right behind in third-place. Reigning national champions – Ole Miss – picked up a first-place vote but were predicted to finish fourth in the West while Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State rounded out the western division.

Despite being overwhelmingly selected to come in first for the East this season, the Vols failed to register an SEC Championship vote. Instead, LSU was predicted to win the conference, picking up 11 votes. Florida, Ole Miss and Texas A&M each accumulated one vote to win the league.

Tennessee picked up its first-ever No. 1 ranking and national seed in 2022 as the Vols spent 12 weeks atop the polls, sweeping both the SEC regular season and tournament championships for the first time since 1995. The Vols have won the Eastern Division each of the past two seasons.

The Volunteers also showcase four players on the preseason all-conference teams. Starting pitchers Chase Dollander and Chase Burns were named to the first team while transfer short stop Maui Ahuna and reliever Camden Sewell were pegged to the second-team.

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.

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.

The swingman for the Tennessee pitching staff, Sewell started and picked up the win the SEC Tournament championship game over Florida, throwing five shutout innings. Overall, the senior earned a 7-1 record in 2022 with a 2.52 ERA in 50 innings on the bump. Sewell struck out 42 batters, walked eight and held opponents to a .221 batting average. The fifth-year senior is using his free year of COVID eligibility for the 2023 campaign.

Tennessee is set to begin the 2023 season in Arizona at the MLB Desert Invitational on the weekend of February 16-18. The Vols will open with Arizona on that Friday night and then play Grand Canyon and UC San Diego on Saturday and Sunday before returning to East Tennessee for the home-opener on February 21 against Alabama A&M.

Eastern Division

1. Tennessee (12)	90
2. Florida (2)	79
3. Vanderbilt	64
4. South Carolina	51
5. Georgia	48
6. Kentucky	34
7. Missouri	19

Western Division

1. LSU (12)	88
2. Texas A&M (1)	69
3. Arkansas	68
4. Ole Miss (1)	64
5. Alabama	34
6. Auburn	33
7. Mississippi State	29

SEC Champion: LSU (11), Florida (1), Ole Miss (1), Texas A&M (1)

First-Team All-SEC (Coaches)

C	BT Riopelle	Florida
1B	Jack Moss	Texas A&M
2B	Peyton Stovall	Arkansas
3B	Luke Mann	Missouri
SS	Jacob Gonzalez	Ole Miss
OF	Dylan Crews	LSU
OF	Enrique Bradfield Jr.	Vanderbilt
OF	Wyatt Langford	Florida
DH/UTL	Tommy White	LSU
SP	Chase Dollander	Tennessee
SP	Chase Burns	Tennessee
RP	Brady Tygart	Arkansas

Second-Team All-SEC (Coaches)

C	Luke Hancock	Mississippi State
1B	Tre’ Morgan	LSU
2B	Ryan Targac	Texas A&M
3B	Trevor Werner	Texas A&M
SS	Maui Ahuna	Tennessee
OF	Connor Tate	Georgia
OF	Brett Minnich	Texas A&M
OF	Colton Ledbetter	Mississippi State
DH/UTL	Austin Bost	Texas A&M
SP	Carter Holton	Vanderbilt
SP	Hurston Waldrep	Florida
SP	Paul Skenes	LSU
RP	Camden Sewell	Tennessee

Tennessee Baseball Preseason Honors

RHP Drew Beam | Preseason All-American First Team – NCBWA |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, NCBWA | Preseason First-Team Coaches All-SEC

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

RHP Camden Sewell | Preseason All-American Second Team – Collegiate Baseball | Preseason All-American Third Team – NCBWA | Preseason Second-Team Coaches All-SEC

LHP Kirby Connell | Preseason All-American Second Team – NCBWA

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

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

USA Today – No. 2

NCBWA – No. 2

Perfect Game – No. 2

Baseball American – No. 2

Collegiate Baseball – No. 5