Stovall, Tygart Awarded SEC Preseason Honors

Four Top 10 SEC schools dominate baseball list

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas infielder Peyton Stovall and pitcher Brady Tygart will head into the College Baseball Showdown against No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 15 TCU and Texas bearing the honor of having been named to the preseason All-SEC first team.

Stovall and Tygart were voted the first-team second baseman and first-team reliever, respectively, by the league’s 14 head coaches. No. 8 Arkansas is one of four teams, along with No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Tennessee and No. 7 Florida with two first-team honorees.

One of the Razorbacks’ three team captains, Stovall enters the 2023 campaign as a preseason All-American after hitting .295/.373/.425 with six homers and 31 RBI over 52 games last year as a true freshman. He broke out in the NCAA Tournament, posting a team-leading .429/.451/.571 slash line with two home runs and 13 RBI in 11 games.

The Haughton, Louisiana native racked up a season-high five hits against Auburn in Omaha, becoming the first player with five hits in a College World Series game since UNC’s Dustin Ackley in 2009.

Tygart also heads into the 2023 campaign as a preseason All-American. He emerged as the Razorbacks’ relief ace last season as a true freshman, posting a 3-4 record with a 3.82 ERA and a team-leading eight saves in 37.2 innings of work.

The Hernando, Mississippi native tallied six multi-inning saves and struck out 51 while limiting opposing hitters to a .212 batting average in 2022. At the year’s end, he earned a spot on the Freshman All-SEC Team and was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game.

As a team, Arkansas was predicted to finish third in the SEC Western Division. LSU, which earned 11 first-place votes to win the SEC championship, was predicted to win the West, followed by Texas A&M.

(This story contains information courtesy of Razorback Communications)