Baseball Trio Earns All-SEC Honors

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Arkansas baseball players Zach Jackson, Keaton McKinney and Bobby Wernes joined Conference Player of the Year Andrew Benintendi in earning SEC All-Conference honors as announced by the league office on Monday.

Jackson earned All-SEC first team honors as a relief pitcher, McKinney was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team as a starting pitcher and Wernes landed on the SEC All-Defensive Team at third base.

Jackson quickly became one of the most feared relief pitchers in the league in 2015, making 18 appearances and recording a team-best 67 strikeouts in 45.2 innings of work. The right-hander posted a 2.36 earned run average with a 4-0 record and five saves on the year. He surrendered just four extra base hits and held opponents to a .202 batting average.

McKinney has quietly emerged as a premier starting pitcher in the SEC, posting a 6-1 record and 2.83 earned run average. He went 5-0 over his last six starts with a 1.56 ERA, two complete games, one shutout and a .190 batting average against. He is the only pitcher in the league to earn SEC Freshman of the Week and Pitcher of the Week honors this season.

Wernes has taken over the role as a human highlight reel with jaw-dropping defensive plays on the hot corner. He has made two appearances on SportsCenter’s #SCTop10, debuting as the No. 1 play on March 18 with his famous jump throw in foul territory, before his bare-handed snag and throw to first landed at No. 8 on May 2. He has a .969 fielding percentage and leads an Arkansas defense that ranks second in the league.

The fifth-seeded Razorbacks open play in the 2015 SEC Tournament on Tuesday, May 19, taking on No. 12 seed Tennessee at approximately 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network. The winner will advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket to play No. 4 seed Florida.

2015 SEC BASEBALL AWARDS

Player of the Year: Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas
Pitcher of the Year: Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt
Freshman of the Year: Alex Lange, LSU
Coach of the Year: Paul Mainieri, LSU
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Seth Heck, Mississippi State

First-Team All-SEC
C: Kade Scivicque, LSU
1B: Kyle Martin, South Carolina
2B: JaVon Shelby, Kentucky
3B: Conner Hale, LSU
SS: Alex Bregman, LSU
OF: Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas
OF: Andrew Stevenson, LSU
OF: Christin Stewart, Tennessee
DH/UT: Mitchell Nau, Texas A&M
SP: Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt
SP: Alex Lange, LSU
RP: Zach Jackson, Arkansas

Second-Team All-SEC Team
C: Mike Rivera, Florida
1B: Chris Chinea, LSU
2B: Max Schrock, South Carolina
3B: Josh Tobias, Florida
SS: Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt
OF: Kyle Barrett, Kentucky
OF: Nick Banks, Texas A&M
OF: Logan Taylor, Texas A&M
DH/UT: JJ Schwarz, Florida
SP: Grayson Long, Texas A&M
SP: Cole Lipscomb, Auburn
RP: Breckin Williams, Missouri
RP: Wyatt Short, Ole Miss

Freshman All-SEC Team
C: Mike Rivera, Florida
1B: Evan White, Kentucky
2B: Dalton Guthrie, Florida
3B: Will Toffey, Vanderbilt
SS: Ryan Gridley, Mississippi State
OF: Keegan McGovern, Georgia
OF: Trey Harris, Missouri
OF: Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt
DH/UT: JJ Schwarz, Florida
SP: Tanner Houck, Missouri
SP: Keaton McKinney, Arkansas
RP: Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt

SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Kade Scivicque, LSU
1B: Evan White, Kentucky
2B: Kyle Overstreet, Alabama
3B: Bobby Wernes, Arkansas
SS: Alex Bregman, LSU
OF: Andrew Stevenson, LSU
OF: Mark Laird, LSU
OF: Buddy Reed, Florida
P: Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt

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