O’Sullivan & Shore grab SEC honors

Special to GC

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan was selected as the SEC Coach of the Year and right-hander Logan Shore was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in a vote of the league’s 14 head baseball coaches announced on Tuesday.

Junior catcher Taylor Gushue and Shore were chosen first-team All-SEC, sophomore outfielder Harrison Bader was named second-team All-SEC and the trio of first baseman Peter Alonso, Shore and third baseman John Sternagel collected All-Freshman Team recognition.

Shore became the Gators’ third SEC Freshman of the Year under O’Sullivan, along with Preston Tucker (2009) and Austin Maddox (2010). The hurler from Coon Rapids, Minn., joined LSU’s SEC Pitcher of the Year Aaron Nola on the league’s first team, just the second starting pitcher from Florida to earn the honor in the past 11 years: Justin Hoyman (2004) and Patrick Keating (2008).

In 10 league games, Shore went 7-1 with a 2.08 ERA, tying for the lead in conference victories. The righty had 41 strikeouts in 65 innings and limited opponents to a .234 batting average. Shore is 7-3 with a 1.99 ERA in 15 appearances spanning 90.2 innings on the campaign and has a team-high 62 strikeouts.

O’Sullivan was honored by his peers for the second time after garnering the award in 2010. The Gators were picked third in the Eastern Division in the preseason poll and wound up winning their third SEC crown in the past five seasons with a 21-9 league mark. UF claimed a school-record 12 league outings in a row from April 12-May 9. O’Sullivan is the fourth skipper from Florida to earn the award multiple times, joining Dave Fuller (1952-56-62), Jack Rhine (1982-83) and Joe Arnold (1984-88).

Gushue led the SEC in conference games with a .389 batting average and was the runner-up in slugging percentage (.583) and on-base percentage (.449). The Boca Raton native is hitting .323 with team highs in RBI (49), doubles (16) and homers (6). Gushue is the third Gator backstop since 1991 to earn first-team accolades – Mario Linares (1991) and Mike Zunino (2011-12).

A member of the All-Freshman Team last season, Bader earned a berth on the All-SEC second team as an outfielder after batting .303 with 20 runs, 15 RBI and 10 stolen bases in league action. Entering the NCAA Gainesville Regional, he paces UFs offense with a .333 clip and has 26 runs, 24 RBI and 13 thefts in 19 attempts.

Florida led the conference with three Freshman Team selections, giving O’Sullivan 14 recipients during his tenure. Alonso (.290, 23 RBI, 9 runs in SEC play) was chosen at first base, Shore was one of the two starting pitchers and Sternagel (.250, 11 runs, 8 RBI in SEC play) earned the nod at third base. Sternagel is the fourth Gator third baseman under O’Sullivan to be recognized: Maddox (2010),Zack Powers (2011) and Josh Tobias (2012).

The complete 2014 All-SEC Team follows:

SEC Player of the Year – A.J. Reed, Kentucky

SEC Pitcher of the Year – Aaron Nola, LSU

SEC Freshman of the Year – Logan Shore, FLORIDA

SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Seth Heck, Mississippi State

SEC Coach of the Year – Kevin O’Sullivan, FLORIDA

First Team

1B – Sikes Orvis, Ole Miss

2B – Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt

3B – Austin Anderson, Ole Miss

SS – Vince Conde, Vanderbilt

C – Taylor Gushue, FLORIDA

OF – Auston Bousfield, Ole Miss

OF – Ka’ai Tom, Kentucky

OF – Christin Stewart, Tennessee

DH/UTL– A.J. Reed, Kentucky

P – Aaron Nola, LSU

P – Logan Shore, FLORIDA

RP – Jacob Lindgren, Mississippi State

Second Team

1B – Eric Fisher, Arkansas

2B – Brett Pirtle, Mississippi State

3B – Max Kuhn, Kentucky

SS – Alex Bregman, LSU

C – Will Allen, Ole Miss

OF – Ben Moore, Alabama

OF – Harrison Bader, FLORIDA

OF – Nick Banks, Texas A&M

DH/UTL – Wade Wass, Alabama

P – Ross Mitchell, Mississippi State

P – Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt

RP – Joel Seddon, South Carolina

All-Freshman Team

1B – Peter Alonso, FLORIDA

2B – JaVon Shelby, Kentucky

3B – John Sternagel, FLORIDA

SS – Errol Robinson, Ole Miss

C – Gavin Collins, Mississippi State

OF – Nick Banks, Texas A&M

OF – Bryan Reynolds, Vanderbilt

OF – Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas

DH/UTL – Nick Senzel, Tennessee

P – Logan Shore, FLORIDA

P – Keegan Thompson, Auburn

RP – Thomas Burrows, Alabama

All-Defensive Team

P – Aaron Nola, LSU; Carson Fulmer, Vanderbilt

1B – Eric Fisher, Arkansas

2B – Brett Pirtle, Mississippi State

SS – Seth Heck, Mississippi State

3B – Joey Pankake, South Carolina

C – Jake Wise, Arkansas; Grayson Greiner, South Carolina

OF – Austin Cousino, Kentucky

OF – Tanner English, South Carolina

OF – Andrew Stevenson, LSU