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Crews named SEC Co-Player of the Year; Berry, Morgan also honored

LSU outfielder Dylan Crews (3) runs during an NCAA baseball game against Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

HOOVER, Ala. – Three LSU players received All-SEC baseball recognition Monday in a vote of the league’s 14 head coaches.

Sophomore outfielder Dylan Crews was named the SEC Co-Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive team; sophomore third baseman Jacob Berry was voted second-team All-SEC; and sophomore first baseman Tre’ Morgan was awarded SEC All-Defensive team honors.

Crews, a sophomore from Longwood, Fla., shared the Player of the Year honor with Auburn first baseman Sonny DiChiara.

Crews becomes LSU’s first SEC Player of the Year since outfielder Raph Rhymes received the honor in 2012. Former LSU right-hander Aaron Nola was named SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2013 and in 2014.

Crews is hitting .345 (76-for-220) this season with eight doubles, four triples, 21 home runs, 67 RBI and 63 runs scored. His 21 homers represent the most by an LSU player since outfielder Ryan Schimpf hit 22 home runs in 2009.

Crews was named by USA Baseball earlier this season to the 2022 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, and he was voted last week to the 2022 SEC Baseball Community Service Team for his dedicated philanthropic work with special needs children.

He leads the SEC this season in homers (21) and runs scored (63), and he is No. 2 in the league in triples (4), No. 2 in total bases (155), No. 2 in RBI (67), No. 3 in hits (76) and No. 4 in slugging percentage (.705).

Crews was named SEC Co-Player of the Week on May 9 after he led LSU to a series victory at Alabama, batting a remarkable .636 (7-for-11) in the series with one double, three homers, seven RBI and five runs.

Berry, a product of Queen Creek, Ariz., is hitting a team-high .381 (72-for-189) on the year, including a remarkable .400 in SEC games. Berry has collected eight doubles, 15 homers, 47 RBI and 43 runs scored this season. He was forced to miss six games from May 7-15 due to a finger injury.

Berry, named by USA Baseball earlier this season to the 2022 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, is No. 3 in the SEC in batting average (.381), No. 5 in on-base percentage (.473), No. 10 in slugging percentage (.661), No. 10 in total bases (125) and No. 10 in base hits (72).

He led LSU to a series win over Georgia (April 29-May 1), batting .462 (6-for-13) in three games with one double, one homer and three RBI, and to a three-game sweep of Missouri (April 21-23), batting .600 (6-for-10) with three homers, four RBI and five runs.

Berry, who played at Arizona last season, was the 2021 Collegiate Baseball National Co-Freshman of the Year, batting .352 with 54 runs scored, 19 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs and 70 RBI. He also received 2021 Collegiate Baseball first-team All-America recognition.

Morgan, a native of New Orleans, La., was voted to the SEC All-Defense team for the second straight year. He is also No. 3 in the league this season in doubles (17), No. 3 in hit-by-pitch (14) and No. 7 in base hits (74).

Morgan is LSU’s third-leading hitter this season, batting .329 (74-for-225) with 17 doubles, one triple, five homers, 47 RBI and 48 runs scored.

He delivered the game-winning two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning at Mississippi State (April 8), erasing a 2-1 deficit and sparking LSU to a 5-2 victory

Morgan was a 2021 First-Team Freshman All-American, batting .357 (89-for-249) with 16 doubles, four triples, six homers, 42 RBI, 64 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.

 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*

Freshman All-SEC Team

Chase Burns, SP, Tennessee

Drew Beam, SP, Tennessee

Brady Tygart, RP, Arkansas

Hunter Elliott, SP, Ole Miss

Hagen Smith, SP, Arkansas

Carter Holton, SP, Vanderbilt

Hunter Hines, INF/OF, Mississippi State

Blake Burke, 1B/OF, Tennessee

Brandon Neely, P, Florida

Devin Futrell, SP, Vanderbilt

Michael Braswell, INF/P, South Carolina

Dylan Ray, RP, Alabama*

Chris Cortez, RP, Texas A&M*

SEC All-Defensive Team

C: Logan Tanner, Mississippi State

1B: Tre’ Morgan, LSU

2B: Robert Moore, Arkansas

3B: Blake Rambusch, Auburn

SS: Ryan Ritter, Kentucky

OF: Enrique Bradfield, Jr., Vanderbilt

OF: Dylan Crews, LSU

OF: Drew Gilbert, Tennessee

P: Connor Noland, Arkansas

*Ties (Ties are not broken)

(Press release via LSU Athletics)