Baseball picked third in SEC West, Daniel Cabrera and Cade Beloso named first team All-SEC

LSU junior outfielder Daniel Cabrera and sophomore first baseman Cade Beloso picked up some accolades Thursday after being named preseason All-SEC first-team by the 14 league coaches.

Also, the coaches voted the Tigers to finish tied for third in the SEC West with Auburn. LSU received three first-place votes while West Division favorite Arkansas received five and Mississippi State received four.

Cabrera, who was also named as a preseason first team All-American by Baseball America, hit .284 last year with 12 home runs and doubles with a pair of triples. His .516 slugging percentage was second only to former Tigers’ shortstop Josh Smith, who was taken in the second round by the Yankees in the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft.

During the off-season, Cabrera was awarded the No. 8 jersey given to an LSU upperclassman deemed as a team leader on and off the field.

Beloso started 58 games as a freshman, mostly at first base, and hit .279 with 10 home runs and three triples.

Beloso, Cabrera, and former No. 8 Antoine Duplantis were the only Tigers on the 2019 team with more than 50 RBI. Beloso finished with 52, Cabrera with 50, and Duplantis with a team-leading 62.

Arkansas leads the league with four players named to the preseason first team. They are catcher Casey Opitz, shortstop Casey Martin, outfielder Heston Kjerstad, and designated hitter/utility Matt Goodheart.

Defending national champion Vanderbilt was picked by the coaches to win the league and the SEC East, getting eight and nine-first place votes respectively.

LSU did not receive a conference champion vote.

2020 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll

(First place votes in parenthesis)

Eastern Division

1. Vanderbilt (9) – 87

2. Florida (3) – 77

3. Georgia (2) – 76

4. Tennessee – 50

5. South Carolina – 48

6. Missouri – 32

7. Kentucky – 22

Western Division

1. Arkansas (5) – 82

2. Mississippi State (4) – 73

T3. LSU (3) – 67

T3. Auburn (2) – 67

5. Texas A&M – 44 

6. Ole Miss – 38 

7. Alabama – 21

SEC Champion: Vanderbilt (8), Florida (2), Arkansas (1), Auburn (1), Georgia (1), Mississippi State (1)

2020 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team

First Team

C: Casey Opitz, Arkansas

1B: Cade Beloso, LSU*

1B: T.J. Collett, Kentucky*

2B: Justin Foscue, Mississippi State

3B: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt

SS: Casey Martin, Arkansas

OF: Daniel Cabrera, LSU

OF: Alerick Soularie, Tennessee

OF: Heston Kjerstad, Arkansas

DH/UTL: Matt Goodheart, Arkansas

SP: Emerson Hancock, Georgia

SP: Asa Lacy, Texas A&M

RP: Tyler Brown, Vanderbilt

Second Team

C: Ty Duvall, Vanderbilt

1B: Josh Hatcher, Mississippi State*

1B: Rankin Woley, Auburn*

2B: Noah Campbell, South Carolina*

2B: Harrison Ray, Vanderbilt*

2B: Riley King, Georgia*

3B: Tyler Keenan, Ole Miss

SS: Jordan Westburg, Mississippi State

OF: Jud Fabian, Florida

OF: Tyler Gentry, Alabama

OF: Rowdey Jordan, Mississippi State*

OF: Zach DeLoach, Texas A&M*

DH/UTL: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State

SP: Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt

SP: Tanner Burns, Auburn

RP: Cody Greenhill, Auburn

*Tie (ties are not broken)