Four Tennessee baseball players landed on Baseball America’s three Preseason All-American teams on Monday afternoon.
Starting pitcher Drew Beam landed on the first team, first baseman Blake Burke landed on the second team and third baseman Billy Amick and second baseman Christian Moore landed on the third team.
Beam, Amick and Moore have landed on every All-American team this preseason while Baseball America is the first preseason All-American team to include Burke.
Beam has been Tennessee’s Sunday starter each of his first two seasons in Knoxville and is looking to step up into the Friday night starting spot in his junior season. The right-handed pitcher posted a 9-4 record, 3.63 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 88 strikeouts and just 23 walks during the 2023 season.
The Murfreesboro native was stellar in Tennessee’s postseason run to the College World Series turning in dominant starts in the Vols’ regional and super regional clinching victories.
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Burke entered his sophomore season with incredibly high expectations but struggled throughout SEC play before breaking out of the slump with some big hits in the NCAA Tournament. The first baseman finished his sophomore season hitting .280 with 16 home run and 38 runs batted in.
Amick transferred from Clemson to Tennessee this offseason, marking one of the biggest offseason wins for Tony Vitello and his staff. The sophomore played first base, third base and designated hitter last season at Clemson where he hit .413 with 13 home runs, 32 extra-base hits and 63 RBIs. Amick also boasted an elite 16.7% strikeout percentage last season.
Moore had somewhat of an up-and-down season but played his best baseball during the postseason. The second baseman went seven-for-10 at the plate with four home runs, eight RBIs, three walks and a hit-by pitch on his way to earning Clemson Regional MVP honors. The Brooklyn native finished his sophomore season hitting .304 with 17 home runs, 13 doubles and 50 RBIs.
Tennessee is a fringe top 10 team in nearly every preseason rankings, coming in at No. 5 in the NCBWA poll, at No. 8 in Baseball America’s rankings, No. 9 in D1Baseball’s rankings and No. 11 in Perfect Game’s rankings. USA Today’s Coaches Poll have not released their preseason rankings yet.
