Baseball's Messina Named Second Team All-SEC

BIRMINGHAM – University of South Carolina junior catcher Cole Messina was named to the All-Southeastern Conference Second Team, it was announced this afternoon (Monday, May 20) by the league.

Messina, who earned all-league honors for the second straight season, leads the Gamecocks with a .312 batting average to go along with 18 doubles, which is tied for fourth in the SEC, 16 home runs and 53 RBI. He is slugging .653 this season and has a .444 on-base percentage. Messina also leads the team with 54 runs scored. He was the SEC Player of the Week after going 9-for-14 with two home runs and seven runs scored in a series win over Missouri. In SEC play, Messina is hitting .330 with 12 doubles and 28 RBI.

Messina is Carolina’s first two-time All-SEC awardwinner since Matt Price and Christian Walker were named to the All-SEC teams in 2011 and 2012. Price was a three time selection, earning honors in 2010.

In the SEC specialty awards, Georgia’s Charlie Condon was named Player of the Year, while Kentucky’s Nick Mingione was named Coach of the Year. Arkansas’ Hagen Smith was named Pitcher of the Year and Texas A&M’s Gavin Grahovac was the Freshman of the Year. Tennessee’s Drew Beam was the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Carolina will open SEC Tournament play on Tuesday, May 21 against Alabama at The Hoover Met. Game time will be approximately 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT) and will be televised on SEC Network.