HawgBeat - Seven Diamond Hogs receive All-SEC honors
Seven Arkansas baseball players received All-SEC honors from the league's coaches on Monday.
arkansas.rivals.com
Arkansas baseball had seven players honored as All-SEC selections by the league's coaches on Monday afternoon.
Junior pitcher Hagen Smith was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year, while Freshman righty Gabe Gaeckle and Freshman third baseman Nolan Souza were named to the Freshman All-SEC team, second baseman Peyton Stovall and shortstop Wewhiwa Aloy were named Second Team All-SEC and outfielder Peyton Holt and third baseman Jared Sprague-Lott were named to the SEC All-Defensive team.
A native of Bullard, Texas, Smith was by far and away the best pitcher in the conference and arguably the country throughout the entirety of the regular season. His breakthrough campaign led him to becoming the Arkansas career strikeouts record holder with 349, eclipsing former Hog lefty Nick Schmidt.
Smith recorded an 9-0 record, 1.52 ERA, 29 walks and 150 strikeouts across 77.0 innings pitched. The southpaw started 14 games and struck out at least 10 batters in 11 of his outings.
"It’s been great having him in our program," head coach Dave Van Horn said on Friday. "He’s been a starter, he’s been a closer, he’s been a middle guy. He’s done a little bit of everything and he’s been good at all of it. Give him credit, but he’s meant a lot to our program the last three years. He’s been right in the middle of everything good we’ve done."
Smith's ERA ranked first in the nation and he was also top five in hits allowed per nine innings (4.09, 1st), WHIP (.83, 4th) and strikeouts (150, 2nd). He did not commit an error on the mound during the regular season and he limited opposing base runners to just one steal all year.
A freshman from California, Gaeckle emerged as a trustworthy closer throughout the season. After a rough first career outing on Feb. 18 against James Madison, Gaeckle seemed to gain more and more confidence just about every time he took the mound and really blossomed during SEC play.
The right-hander had a 3-2 record, 1.91 ERA, seven saves, 15 walks and 48 strikeouts across 37.2 innings pitched in the regular season. Gaeckle's seven saves ranked tied for first in the SEC with Ole Miss' Connor Spencer and Texas A&M's Evan Aschenbeck.
Gaeckle hasn't allowed an earned run since April 6 against Ole Miss and he has struck out 20 batters in 18.0 innings in that span.
“I think Gabe is going to be really, really, really good," Smith said on Friday. "Probably one of the best freshman pitchers here in a long time. There’s been a lot of good ones. He just goes out there and gets experience. He goes out there in those big spots. It’s not easy for a freshman to get out like that in an SEC game and throw in big sports. It’s awesome that he’s getting that experience and does really well.”
Souza played multiple positions for Arkansas during his freshman campaign, as he saw appearances at third base, second base and designated hitter in 38 games. The Hawaii native was effective in 108 at-bats as he mashed seven home runs, seven doubles and hit for a .259 batting average.
Stovall slashed .339/.404/.548 with nine home runs and 37 RBI through 43 regular season games this year. He posted 17 walks and totaled 60 hits, including 10 doubles. During SEC play, Stovall has posted a .315/.438/.390 slash line with six homers and 20 RBI in 30 league games.
Aloy led Arkansas in home runs (13) and RBIs (54) en route to slashing .276/.368/.495 for the Razorbacks. He also racked up eight doubles and seven stolen bases in 55 games played.
Sprague-Lott and Holt earned All-Defensive recognition thanks to highlight plays made throughout the season. Sprague-Lott finished with seven errors during his senior campaign, a big drop off from the 15 he made a year ago at Richmond. Holt only made three errors all year and finished with a .966 fielding percentage.
Here are the full 2024 SEC Baseball awards and All-SEC teams:
2024 SEC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: Charlie Condon, Georgia
Pitcher of the Year: Hagen Smith, Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Drew Beam, Tennessee
Coach of the Year: Nick Mingione, Kentucky
First Team All-SEC
C: Jackson Appel, Texas A&M
1B: Jac Caglianone, Florida
2B: Christian Moore, Tennessee
3B: Charlie Condon, Georgia
SS: Justin Lebron, Alabama*
SS: David Mershon, Mississippi State*
OF: Braden Montgomery, Texas A&M
OF: Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M
OF: Dylan Dreiling, Tennessee
SP: Hagen Smith, Arkansas
SP: Khal Stephen, Mississippi State
RP: Evan Aschenbeck, Texas A&M
DH/UT: Ike Irish, Auburn*
DH/UT: Nick Lopez, Kentucky*
Second Team All-SEC
C: Cole Messina, South Carolina
1B: Blake Burke, Tennessee
2B: Peyton Stovall, Arkansas
3B: Tommy White, LSU
SS: Wehiwa Aloy, Arkansas
OF: Kavares Tears, Tennessee
OF: Ryan Waldschmidt, Kentucky
OF: Dakota Jordan, Mississippi State
SP: Ryan Prager, Texas A&M
SP: Luke Holman, LSU
RP: Griffin Herring, LSU
DH/UT: Andrew Fischer, Ole Miss
Freshman All-SEC Team
Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M
Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas
Justin Lebron, Alabama
Dean Curley, Tennessee
Tre Phelps, Georgia
Caden Sorrell, Texas A&M
Zane Adams, Alabama
Steven Milam, LSU
Ashton Larson, LSU
Cade Belyeu, Auburn
Liam Peterson, Florida
Nolan Souza, Arkansas
SEC All-Defensive Team
C: Fernando Gonzalez, Georgia
1B: Blake Burke, Tennessee
2B: Emilien Pitre, Kentucky
3B: Jared Sprague-Lott, Arkansas*
3B: Mitchell Daly, Kentucky*
SS: Justin Lebron, Alabama
OF: Braden Montgomery, Texas A&M
OF: Kavares Tears, Tennessee
OF: Peyton Holt, Arkansas*
OF: Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M
P: Mason Moore, Kentucky
*Ties (Ties are not broken)
