Tennessee junior outfielder Alerick Soularie has been named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team as voted by the league’s 14 head coaches in the annual preseason poll released Thursday afternoon.
The accolade is the latest preseason honor for Soularie. The Houston, Texas native has already been named to Preseason All-American teams by D1Baseball, Baseball America, and Perfect Game this preseason.
Soularie’s long list of preseason accolades come following a breakout sophomore campaign. The Vols’ starting left fielder led the team in batting (.357), slugging (.602), and on-base percentage (.466) in 2019. He also finished second on the team in hits (70) and led the team in runs scored (52). Soularie hit 11 home runs and drove in 46 RBI for the season.
As a result of his play, Soularie earned numerous postseason honors in 2019, including first-team All-SEC recognition after finishing the year ranked in the top five in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage. He was also named a third-team All-American by D1Baseball.com and an All-America Honorable Mention by Perfect Game.
Tony Vitello will begin his third season as the Vols’ skipper on Feb. 14th when he and his Vols welcome Western Illinois to town for a three-game series.
Tennessee will play 37 games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season. The Vols will also play four neutral-site games, including one at nearby Smokies Stadium against UT-Martin on March 24th. The Vols will play 20 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year. That includes 11 games against programs that made it to the Super Regionals and seven versus teams that made it to the College World Series.
The Vols went 40-21 last season while making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. UT finished third in the SEC East with an SEC record of 14-16, which was the highest finish in the division since ’05.
