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Soularie & Stallings garner SEC postseason honors
BIRMINGHAM, AL – Tennessee had two players earn Southeastern Conference postseason honors as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
Sophomore outfielder Alerick Soularie earned first-team All-SEC honors while junior pitcher Garrett Stallings was named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year and garnered a spot on the all-defensive team as well.
Soularie burst onto the scene in his first season at the Division I level, leading the Vols in batting average (.365), runs scored (49), slugging percentage (.635) and on-base percentage (.472) while also ranking second on the team in hits (65), home runs (11), runs batted in (45) and total bases (113).
The sophomore from Houston, Texas was one of the top hitters in the SEC all year long, finishing the regular season ranked among the top three in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Soularie also finished the year ranked fifth in batting average (.364), eighth in hits (40) and tied for ninth in runs scored (28) during conference play. He is the first UT player to earn first-team All-SEC honors since Jordan Rodgers in 2017.
Stallings is just the third player in program history to garner SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors and the second in as many years after Nico Mascia won the award in 2018. The Chesapeake, Va., native has been a model of consistency on and off the field throughout his career, posting a 3.41 GPA in Supply Chain Management while also serving on UT's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and being chosen for the prestigious VOLeaders Academy program.
Stallings emerged as the ace of Tennessee's pitching staff that tied a program record with an NCAA-leading 10 shutouts this season. He led the team with an 8-3 record and 98 strikeouts while posting a 3.12 earned run average.
The junior right hander has set careers bests in victories, ERA, strikeouts, games started and innings pitched this season. His 92.1 innings pitched were the most in the conference as he went at least seven innings in eight of his 14 starts this season. Stallings' eight wins are tied for sixth in the SEC while his 98 strikeouts also rank sixth in the league and are 59 more than his previous career high of 39 that he set as a freshman in 2017.
Stallings threw two complete-game shutouts against ranked SEC opponents as well, holding No. 2 Georgia (April 12) and No. 15 Ole Miss (May 16) off the scoreboard in a pair of big wins for the Vols. He was named SEC Pitcher of the Week after his dominant performances against the Bulldogs and Rebels.
You can see the complete All-SEC teams and postseason award winners here.
Source: University of Tennessee Athletics
Published May 20, 2019
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