BATON ROUGE — LSU junior right-hander Jared Bradford was named second-team all-Southeastern Conference Tuesday in a vote of the league’s 12 baseball coaches.
The coaches also voted LSU outfielder Blake Dean and catcher Sean Ochinko to the Freshman All-SEC squad.
Bradford, a product of Hueytown, Ala., completed the regular-season with a 10-4 mark, tying Vanderbilt’s David Price and Casey Weathers for the most victories among SEC pitchers. Bradford also led LSU with five saves, and he posted either a win or a save in 10 of LSU’s 12 SEC victories.
Bradford, voted to the all-SEC team as a relief pitcher, worked a team-high 96 innings, recording 16 walks, 81 strikeouts and a .255 opponents’ batting average. He started 11 games and made 12 relief appearances during the regular season.
“I’ve said it many times throughout this season ? Jared Bradford is the most valuable player on our team this year,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “He was vital to the success that we enjoyed. He is also one of the best players I have worked with in my 25 years of collegiate coaching. He is a fantastic competitor on the field, and he is also a wonderful human being. He is a tremendous asset to the LSU program.”
Dean, a native of Crestview, Fla., ended the regular season as the Tigers’ top hitter, batting .316 (65-for-206) with 12 doubles, three triples, seven homers, 46 RBI and 30 runs scored. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week on two different occasions during the regular season.
Ochinko was one of only three LSU players ? along with Dean and shortstop Michael Hollander ? to start in all 56 regular-season games. Ochinko, a native of Parkland, Fla., batted .277 with five doubles, seven homers, 32 RBI and 27 runs. He recorded a .324 average in the Tigers’ 30 SEC games.
“Blake Dean and Sean Ochinko played integral roles for us this season as true freshmen,” Mainieri said. “They had to step into our starting lineup immediately, and I thought they performed very well. I’m looking forward to watching their continued develop in our program.”
Florida senior first baseman Matt LaPorta was selected 2007 SEC Baseball Player of the Year, Vanderbilt’s junior lefthander David Price was named SEC Pitcher of the Year and Ole Miss outfielder Jordan Henry was named SEC Freshman of the Year by a vote of the league’s coaches.
The coaches also tabbed Vanderbilt skipper Tim Corbin as SEC Coach of the Year. Alabama outfielder Emeel Salem was named SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year.
LaPorta and Price lead a list of players named to the first and second-team All-SEC squads for this season. A semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, presented to the top player in collegiate baseball, LaPorta is hitting an SEC-best .419 with 59 runs, 51 walks, 50 RBI and 19 home runs. He leads the league with an .838 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .591 and drew 10 walks (nine intentional) in 14 plate appearances last weekend versus Tennessee.
Price was named the lone National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball after he struck out 15 batters in 8 2/3 innings in the Commodores 4-1 win over LSU last Thursday. He gave up one run on four hits as he improved to 10-0 on the season. The 15 strikeouts allowed him to shatter his own single-season school record of 155 strikeouts set a year ago. He now has 164 which ranks as the sixth most in SEC history.
Corbin led the Commodores to a 46-10 overall record and a 22-8 record in conference play to win the SEC Championship. The overall win total is the best in school history, ahead of the 45 set in 2004, while the 22 conference wins is the most by a SEC team since South Carolina won 25 in 2000.
Henry, who was named second-team All-SEC, is the third Rebel since 2002 to be named SEC Freshman of the Year.
SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Matt LaPorta, Florida
SEC PITCHER OF THE YEAR – *David Price, Vanderbilt
SEC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Jordan Henry, Ole Miss
SEC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – Emeel Salem, Alabama
SEC COACH OF THE YEAR – *Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt
* unanimous selection
FIRST TEAM
1B – Matt LaPorta, Florida
2B – Travis Jones, South Carolina
3B – Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt
SS – Zack Cozart, Ole Miss
C – Edward Easley, Mississippi State
OF – *Emeel Salem, Alabama
OF – *Dominic de la Osa, Vanderbilt
OF – Brian Leclerc, Florida
DH – Phil Disher, South Carolina
P – *David Price, Vanderbilt
P – Nick Schmidt, Arkansas
P – Jess Todd, Arkansas
RP – Casey Weathers, Vanderbilt
SECOND TEAM
1B – Justin Smoak, South Carolina
2B – Jeffrey Rea, Mississippi State
3B – James Darnell, South Carolina
SS – Ryan Flaherty, Vanderbilt
C – J.P. Arencibia, Tennessee
OF – Jordan Henry, Ole Miss
OF – Mike Bianucci, Auburn
OF – Julio Borbon, Tennessee
DH – Alex Avila, Alabama
P – Lance Lynn, Ole Miss
P – James Adkins, Tennessee
RP – Jared Bradford, LSU
RP – Cody Satterwhite, Ole Miss
ALL FRESHMAN TEAM
1B – Yan Gomes, Tennessee
2B – Robert Brooks, Auburn
2B – Zach Miller, Ole Miss
3B – Connor Powers, Mississippi State
SS – Cole Figueroa, Florida
C – Sean Ochinko, LSU
OF – *Jordan Henry, Ole Miss
OF – Blake Dean, LSU
OF – Matt den Dekker, Florida
OF – Jonathan Pigott, Florida
DH – Jeff Lockwood, Tennessee
P – Mike Minor, Vanderbilt
P – Nathan Baker, Ole Miss
RP – Dallas Keuchel, Arkansas