On Thursday, the SEC released its 2021 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll along with its first and second-teams All-SEC. Auburn was picked to finish sixth in the SEC West and had two players were selected to the first-team All-SEC.
Shortstop Ryan Bliss and first baseman Rankin Woley are the two Tigers who were selected to first-team All-SEC. Only Arkansas has more players voted to first-team honors than Auburn, with four.
After transitioning from second base to shortstop ahead of the 2020 season, Bliss recorded no errors in all 18 games. Meanwhile at the plate, the junior was second in the conference and sixth in the nation with 29 hits during the 2020 season.
He was also top 10 in the SEC for runs, doubles, triples and total bases. Bliss’ defensive skills and offensive output have garnered him national attention as Collegiate Baseball named Bliss to its Third-Team All-America in 2020. Baseball America has ranked him as the No. 76 prospect for the 2021 MLB Draft.
Woley was also named to the Third-Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball last season. It comes after he ranked top 20 in hits, doubles and RBI, the only player in the country to be within the top 20 in all three of those categories.
Off the field, the graduate student was named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2020 while also being named CoSIDA Academic All-America. He became the second player in Auburn history to be named All-America and Academic All-America in the same season, after Casey Dunn did it in 1999.
Bliss and Roley will join the rest of the Tigers in beginning the 2021 season on Feb. 19, when Auburn plays host to Presbyterian. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. CST from Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park.
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