Cooper dubbed Scholar Athlete of the Year, four Tigers receive All-SEC honors

Senior Kasey Cooper was named the SEC’s Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second time in her career and four Tigers were placed on All-SEC teams, announced by the conference on Tuesday morning. The All-Conference teams were voted on by the SEC’s head coaches.

Cooper is now Auburn’s first back-to-back Scholar Athlete award winner in program history. The first baseman maintained a 3.98 GPA in mechanical engineering on the Plains. The SEC’s all-time leader in RBIs is a two-time Academic All-American and is only the second player in SEC history to win the Scholar Athlete award in back-to-back seasons.

Pitcher Kaylee Carlson and catcher Carlee Wallace were named to the SEC’s first team, while Cooper and freshman Alyssa Rivera now boast All-SEC Second Team honors. The four Tigers split up for additional awards, with Carlson, Wallace and Cooper being named to the All-Defense team, while Rivera was named a member of the SEC All-Freshman squad.

The four players named matches a program-high for the season-ending awards, tying the Auburn teams from 2005 and 2015.

Carlson is only the second pitcher in Auburn history to win an all-conference award, joining Kristen Keyes’ 2004 placement. The junior led the conference with 25 wins this season and was only the second pitcher in league play to amass over 10 victories. She joins Florida pitchers Kelly Barnhill and Delanie Gourley on the first-team roster.

Cooper, now the SEC’s all-time leader in runs batted in with 266, became the second player in SEC history to tally 250 hits and 250 RBIs in her career. The Dothan, Ala. native is part of a selective trio of SEC players to have 40 or more RBIs, 30 or more runs, 20 or more extra-base hits and at least five stolen bases this season.

Wallace is the only catcher to be placed on the All-SEC First Team and the only catcher in the Top 15 of the conference in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Wallace tied the SEC-leading mark in doubles with 18 in 2017. The junior either scored a run or tallied an RBI in a team-leading 13 game-winning plays this year.

Rivera brought in the highest batting average in the league amongst freshman, with a clip of .379. The right-fielder was the only freshman in the SEC to record 20 hits and 10 RBIs in SEC contests. Rivera touted a perfect fielding percentage with a 1.000 mark and a team-high three outfield assists.

The Tigers will next play on Thursday, facing off against the winner of No. 7 seed Kentucky and No. 10 seed South Carolina. Auburn will take the first day off in the SEC Tournament due to their placement at the second seed. The first pitch of Thursday’s contest will be at 4 p.m. CST on the SEC Network.

First Team All-SEC

P – Kaylee Carlson, Auburn

P – Kelly Barnhill, Florida

P – Delanie Gourley, Florida

IF – Nicole DeWitt, Florida

IF – Kayli Kvistad, Florida

IF – Katie Reed, Kentucky

IF – Caroline Seitz, Mississippi State

IF – Meghan Gregg, Tennessee

OF – Amanda Lorenz, Florida

OF – Cortni Emanuel, Georgia

OF – Bailey Landry, LSU

OF – Kylan Becker, Ole Miss

C – Carlee Wallace, Auburn

DP/U – Aleshia Ocasio, Florida

Second Team All-SEC

P – Alexis Osorio, Alabama

P – Allie Walljasper, LSU

P – Kaitlin Lee, Ole Miss

P – Matty Moss, Tennessee

IF – A.J. Belans, Arkansas

IF – Kasey Cooper, Auburn

IF – Alyssa DiCarlo, Georgia

IF – Kristen Cuyos, Texas A&M

IF – Riley Sartain, Texas A&M

OF – Alyssa Rivera, Auburn

OF – Justine McLean, Florida

OF – Sydni Emanuel, Georgia

OF – Regan Nash, Missouri

C – Sahvanna Jaquish, LSU

DP/U – Brooke Vines, Tennessee

Freshman All-SEC

P – Autumn Storms, Arkansas

P – Morgan Bruce, Ole Miss

P – Caylan Arnold, Tennessee

IF – Sophia Reynoso, Florida

IF – Alex Martens, Kentucky

IF – Braxton Burnside, Missouri

IF – Mackenzie Boesel, South Carolina

IF – Chelsea Seggern, Tennessee

OF – Elissa Brown, Alabama

OF – Alyssa Rivera, Auburn

OF – Bailey Vick, Kentucky

OF – Sarah Hudek, Texas A&M

DP/U – Bailey Hemphill, Alabama

SEC All-Defensive

P – Kaylee Carlson, Auburn

C – Carlee Wallace, Auburn

1B – Kaylea Snaer, South Carolina

2B – Nicole DeWitt, Florida

SS – Meghan Gregg, Tennessee

3B – Kasey Cooper, Auburn

LF – Bailey Vick, Kentucky

CF – Amanda Ivy, Mississippi State

RF – Sydni Emanuel, Georgia