Following the conclusion of the regular season and ahead of the SEC Tournament — which begins on Tuesday morning — the league office announced postseason honors Monday afternoon.
Tennessee sophomore left fielder Alerick Soularie was voted as a First-Team All-SEC performer and junior right-hander Garrett Stallings has been named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Stallings also earned a spot on the All-Defensive team.
Soularie, a pleasant surprise for the Vols this season, leads Tennessee in batting average (.365), runs scored (49), slugging percentage (.635), and on-base percentage (.472). The JUCO signee also ranks second on the team in hits (65), home runs (11), runs batted in (45), and total bases (113).
Soularie finished the regular season ranked among the top three in the SEC in batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage. The Houston, Texas native 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.
Soularie is the first Vol to earn All-SEC First Team honors since Jordan Rodgers did so in 2017.
Stallings is the second Vol in as many years to win the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Majoring in Supply Chain Management, he has a 3.41 GPA and also serves on UT’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was chosen for the prestigious VOLeaders Academy program.
Current Tennessee junior Nico Mascia won the scholar athlete award last season.
This season, Stallings holds an 8-3 record with a 3.12 ERA. He has struck out a career-high 98 batters this season in 92.1 innings pitched. His eight wins are tied for sixth most in the conference while his 98 strikeouts are the sixth most. Stallings was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season on Monday as well after pitching a complete game shutout against No. 15 Ole Miss on Thursday.
Tennessee begins postseason play on Tuesday afternoon in Hoover, Alabama. As a nine-seed in the SEC Tournament, the Vols will face eight-seed Auburn at 5:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
Should Tennessee beat Auburn in the single-elimination portion of the tournament, the Vols will advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament where they’ll face No. 1 seed Vanderbilt. First pitch with the Commodores would be at 5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Tennessee has not won a game in the SEC Tournament since 2007.
