Tennessee starting pitcher Drew Beam was named the 2024 SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Monday afternoon, as announced with the SEC’s end-of-season award package.
Beam is the fourth Tennessee pitcher to earn the award and the third from the Tony Vitello era on Rocky Top including Nico Mascia (2018) and Garrett Stallings (2019).
While Beam has been a monster for Tennessee in the second-game spot this season, the junior pitcher’s award highlights his success off the diamond. According to Tennessee Athletics, Beam has a 3.47 GPA as a finance major in a veteran spot in Tennessee’s weekend rotation. Beam is also a two-time selection for the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
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Beam is a one-of-one pitcher for the Vols, literally. The Murfreesboro native is the only Tennessee pitcher to start in every weekend series this season and is ranked in the Top 10 in the SEC with a 3.59 ERA. Beam boasts an 8-2 record this season.
The 21-year-old has not allowed double-digit hits to any opponent all season, with an average of 1.06 hits per inning over the course of 80.1 innings pitched on the mound. Beam has gone into the seventh inning on three occasions this season, with a near complete-game eight-inning performance against Alabama on the road in mid-March.
Beam was one of a handful of Tennessee players honored on Monday, with Christian Moore and Dylan Dreiling named First Team All-SEC selections and Blake Burke and Kavares Tears as Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Selections. Tennessee shortstop Dean Curley was the Vols’ lone All-Freshman player.
