Bruder, Walton earn SEC Player, Co-Coach of the Year honors

Florida senior Kelsey Bruder and head coach Tim Walton have earned SEC Player and Co-coach of the Year awards on Wednesday, just three days after the No. 3 Gators clinched their fourth straight SEC East crown.

Both were among seven Gators that earned 11 All-SEC honors.

No one pulled in the accolades more than freshman pitcher Hannah Rogers. The SEC leader in wins this season earned Second Team All-SEC, Freshman All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive team awards, and was the first Gator to earn all three awards since Aja Paculba did in 2008.

Senior Megan Bush, the conference leader in home runs and RBIs, was named to the First Team All-SEC alongside Bruder and sophomore Brittany Schutte.

Joining Rogers on the Second Team All-SEC were Paculba and junior Michelle Moultrie, who was also named to the SEC All-Defensive Team.

Freshman Cheyenne Coyle rounds out the group earning Freshman All-SEC honors.

Bruder and Walton were also the 10th Gators to earn SEC Player and Coach of the Year honors in their respective sport for the university this season.

Bruder became the third Gator to win SEC Player of the Year, and the first since Kristen Butler did in 2006.

As for Walton, this is his third time winning the honor in his career after leading the Gators to 17 wins in their last 18 contests this season.

Bush, Paculba, Moultrie and Schutte have all earned SEC honors during their years in Gainesville.

The Gators will take on Auburn in the first round of the SEC tournament on Thursday at 2:30 p.m., at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. The game will be televised on ESPNU with the winner going up against the winner of Tennessee and Kentucky.

Gator Country reporter Safid Deen can be reached at Safid@GatorCountry.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SafidDeenGC.