Who was the MVP for Auburn baseball in 2023?

Now that the regular season has concluded, let's give some awards to Auburn baseball.

Author:
Lindsay Crosby
Publish date:
May 21, 2023 4:06 PM EDT

Auburn baseball - so hot right now.

The Tigers, voted to finish last in the SEC in the coaches poll, are winners of seven straight games are are a #5 seed for this week's SEC Tournament in Hoover. They're one of the hottest teams in all of college baseball right now and, with 17 SEC wins and an RPI of 15, are threatening to take the last SEC hosting spot.

Let's take this break between the regular season and the SEC Tournament, starting Tuesday, to give out some awards to this Tigers ball club.

Offensive MVP: 3B Bryson Ware

Bryson Ware Credit: Jacob Taylor/Auburn Athletics — Credit: Jacob Taylor/Auburn Athletics

53G: .358/.444/.730 w/ 21 HRs, 33 XBH, 26 BBs/42 Ks, 5-7 SBs

Bryson Ware had that DAWG in him this year. The senior was one of Auburn's most consistent and deadly offensive threats, only being held hitless in six SEC contests on the season. He had a 34-game on-base streak to open the season, and reached base in 50 of 53 games this year. He finished the year as the 6th Auburn player since 2016 to be on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, and is the seventh player in program history to have 20 homeruns in a season.

Pitching MVP - LHP Tommy Vail

Tommy Vail Credit: Jacob Taylor/Auburn Athletics — Credit: Jacob Taylor/Auburn Athletics

15G (12GS): 5-1, 3.38 ERA in 61.1 IP with 72 Ks, 36 BBs, 3 HRs allowed

Tommy Vail's move to the starting rotation during SEC play coincided with Auburn's run through the back half of the conference schedule. He finished top five in several rate stats for the SEC, including 5th in ERA (3.38), 4th in opposing batting average allowed (.182), and led the conference with only 3 home runs allowed.

Freshman of the Year: DH Ike Irish

53G: .364/.430/.553 w/ 6 HRs, 28 XBH, 23 BBs/41Ks, 2-2 SBs

The true freshman out of Hudsonville, MI burst onto the scene this season, collecting six hits and three RBIs in the opening series against Indiana. Despite a slight slowdown towards the end of the conference schedule, Irish finished 2nd on the team with a .364 batting average, good for 10th in the SEC. He finished in the SEC's Top 5 in hits, with 79, and was 3rd in the conference with 21 doubles. Not to be labeled as a slap hitter, he closed his season with three homeruns in his final five games. There were very few pitchers in the SEC that looked forward to Irish strolling to the plate with a runner in scoring position late in a close contest.

Best Newcomer: 1B Cooper McMurray

Cooper McMurray fields a throw at first against Louisiana Tech in fall exhibition action — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

36G: .292/.473/.683 w/ 14 HRs, 19 XBH, 39BBs/46Ks, 1-1 SBs

Turns out the only thing that could stop Cooper McMurray from dominating SEC pitching was his own ankle.

McMurray, who transferred from Kansas in the offseason, returned from an early-March high-ankle sprain for the Georgia series and absolutely dominated the conference, hitting .310 with a .710 slugging percentage and eleven homeruns across the SEC slate.

A redshirt sophomore, the first baseman is MLB Draft-eligible as a first baseman that shouldn't need to be limited to designated hitter duties - he finished the season with one error in 239 defensive chances, a year after being perfect on defense for Kansas.

Breakout player of the year: 3B Bryson Ware

Yep, he's winning multiple awards.

Ware, a former junior college shortstop who spent two seasons playing mostly in the outfield as a defensive specialist, completely overhauled his offense in the offseason. After finishing his first two seasons on The Plains with batting averages of .254 (2021) and .234 (2022), the senior practically lived in the Josh Donaldson Hitting Lab, using the "spinball machines" to improve his batter's eye against offspeed and breaking pitches, which had proven to be his Achilles heel during his first two seasons at Auburn.

Winning the starting job at 3B to open the year, Ware flashed a plus arm and the shortstop-quality leather to contribute plus defense from the hot corner and established himself as one of the top senior position players to come off the board in this July's MLB Draft.

Best defender: C Nate LaRue

Nate LaRue prepares to receive a throw to home in fall exhibition action against Louisiana Tech — Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

43G: 371 defensive chances, 341 putouts, 27 assists, 3 errors (.992 fielding percentage). 7/24 caught stealing, six pickoffs

LaRue, who spurned multiple overtures from MLB teams to return to Auburn for his senior season, was one of the most important defenders for Auburn in 2023. Leading the pitching staff, head coach Butch Thompson was repeatedly effusive in his praise of the veteran from Mobile, and stuck with him through early-season offensive struggles.

LaRue led the SEC with six pickoffs on the season, with his trademark back pick at first base proving to be one of the more exciting plays for Auburn whenever he unleashed the cannon of a right arm to catch a runner leaning or otherwise distracted.

Most improved: RHP Chase Allsup

18G (5GS): 1-1, 5.95 ERA in 39.1 IP with 40Ks, 28BBs, 6 HRs allowed.

The sophomore from Dothan was blessed with some of the loudest tools on the team, with a fastball that can touch 98 and a slider that's filthy when it's on.

That "when it's on" is key, though - Chase struggled early with his command (hit your spots) and control (throw strikes), and spent lots of time working with Thompson and pitching coach Daron Schoenrock. He entered the rotation later in the season, armed with a new slider grip, and thrived. Saving the best for last, Allsup went seven innings against Missouri in the regular season's final weekend, allowing only three hits, no runs, walking two and striking out seven.

With a one-two punch of Chase Allsup and Tommy Vail, Auburn's rotation can hang with anyone they'd face in a Regional (or Super Regional, or in Omaha) and he'd be the favorite to be the Tigers ace next year.

Most dominant performance: Tommy Vail vs Ole Miss

Tommy Vail's a college baseball veteran, having pitched at Notre Dame before spending his redshirt senior season at TCU, working his way back from Tommy John surgery. He's seen just about everything a college pitcher can see, and had plenty of lessons for Auburn's young pitchers throughout the season.

On May 12th, Tommy Vail taught his masterclass.

Against Ole Miss in the second game of a doubleheader, Vail took the ball and SHOVED. The lefty put up eight innings, a season-high outing for any Auburn pitcher, allowing only two hits and one run, with one walk and six strikeouts. After the Tigers had to throw three of their key guys for the game one victory, Vail's length allowed Auburn to save the bullpen, with Will Cannon coming on to pitch the 9th and leaving all hands on deck for the Saturday series finale.