ATHENS —Georgia baseball headed to Birmingham on Monday with the 2022 SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a First-Team All-SEC pick on board the bus.
Graduate centerfielder Ben Anderson, who is from LaGrange, Ga., won the scholar-athlete award with a degree earned in Biochemistry with plans to attend medical school after next season.
Pitcher Jonathan Cannon, from Alpharetta, was one of only two pitchers selected first-team All-SEC in a vote of the league coaches. Cannon is 9-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 12 starts with 65 strikeouts and 10 walks in 74.2 innings.
RELATED: Georgia closes out regular season with thriller win over Missouri
The No. 6-seed Bulldogs (35-20) are headed to play in the SEC Baseball Tournament at 10:30 a.m. (eastern) on Tuesday at the Hoover Met against No. 11-seed Alabama (29-25) in a loser-out game.
UGA took two out of three against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa earlier this season, winning 4-2 and 3-0 before dropping a Sunday contest, 3-0.
Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said the Bulldogs are looking to make a run in the SEC tourney.
Stricklin, in his ninth season leading the team, has hopes his team’s No. 11 RPI will impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee enough to host an NCAA Regional.
Alabama will be playing in front of a partisan crowd and is coming off an impressive series win over No. 5-ranked Arkansas, taking two of three from the Razorbacks.
The Tide is expected to throw staff ace Garrett McMillian (4-5, 3.83) against Georgia on short rest, while UGA will start Luke Wagner (5-1, 5.11) on Tuesday.
“We feel good where we are, we have to try to navigate through this tournament and stay healthy,” Stricklin said on Monday.
“We have to win every game we can, we still are in the conversation to host. We have to have a good week and make a run here.”
Georgia has never won the SEC Baseball Tournament, but it has finished twice three times (1985, 1986 and 1989).
The Bulldogs would play SEC tourney No. 3-seed Arkansas with a win over Alabama at 10:30 .m. on Wednesday. Georgia didn’t play Arkansas this season.
The Bulldogs won an 11-10 battle with Missouri on Saturday to cap their regular season with a win and finish with a 15-15 league mark.
2022 SEC Baseball Awards
Co-Player of the Year: Dylan Crews, LSU
Co-Player of the Year: Sonny DiChiara, Auburn
Pitcher of the Year: Chase Dollander, Tennessee
Freshman of the Year: Drew Beam, Tennessee
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Ben Anderson, Georgia
Coach of the Year: Tony Vitello, Tennessee
First Team All-SEC
C: BT Riopelle, Florida
1B: Sonny DiChiara, Auburn
2B: RJ Yeager, Mississippi State
3B: Trey Lipscomb, Tennessee
SS: Jacob Gonzalez, Ole Miss
OF: Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
OF: Dylan Crews, LSU
OF: Drew Gilbert, Tennessee
SP: Chase Dollander, Tennessee
SP: Jonathan Cannon, Georgia
RP: Tyler Guilfoil, Kentucky
DH/UT: Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
C: Logan Tanner, Mississippi State
1B: Tim Elko, Ole Miss
2B: Ryan Targac, Texas A&M
3B: Jacob Berry, LSU
SS: Josh Day, Missouri
OF: Wyatt Langford, Florida
OF: Spencer Jones, Vanderbilt
OF: Dylan Rock, Texas A&M
SP: Chase Burns, Tennessee
SP: Drew Beam, Tennessee
RP: Blake Burkhalter, Auburn
DH/UT: Brandt Belk, South Carolina*
DH/UT: Austin Bost, Texas A&M*
*Ties (Ties are not broken)
