Vols Baseball Recognized With Midseason Awards

The No. 1 Tennessee BaseVols have been recognized with four midseason D1Baseball.com awards following their incredible first half of the season.

The freshmen pitcher duo of Drew Beam and Chase Burns received awards, with Burns landing the Top Pitcher and Top Freshman in the country honors and Beam earning a spot on the midseason All-America Team.

In addition to Beam, junior outfielder Drew Gilbert received a spot on the All-America Team.

Head coach Tony Vitello is the fourth member of the Tennessee squad to earn honors, as he received Top Coach in the nation honors from the site.

Burns and Beam have been lights out for the Volunteers as the starting Friday and Sunday pitchers. Both arms enter the upcoming weekend series against Mizzou with SEC-best 6-0 records. Beam ranks fourth in the NCAA in ERA with a 0.88, and Burns is not far behind at 12th with a 1.15. Burns also ranks sixth in the SEC with 52 strikeouts.

As for Gilbert, the Vol veteran has been one of many hot bats for the Big Orange this spring, ranking second in the conference and sixth in the NCAA with a team-best .446 batting average. Gilbert's 31 RBIs are second on the team and tied for seventh in the SEC, and the junior missed seven games in non-conference play.

Gilbert, Beam and Burns have led the Vols to the best start in SEC play in program history (9-0) and the longest winning streak in school history at 20 games.

For more on the midseason report from D1Baseball.com, click HERE.

Tennessee has a chance to make college baseball history this weekend, as the Vols are two consecutive SEC wins away from having the best conference start of all-time with an 11-0 record. Florida currently holds the record, as the Gators began conference play with a 10-0 record in 1994.

The Tennessee-Mizzou series kicks off on Friday night with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. ET in Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Photo Credit: UT Athletics Communications

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