Georgia's Wes Johnson, Dan Jackson win SEC year-end honors
Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson and star catcher Dan Jackson garnered major accolades on Monday. Johnson was voted as the SEC Coach of the Year while Jackson was named SEC Player of the Year as voted on by league coaches.
Jackson, senior infielder Tre Phelps and sophomore outfielder Ryland Lujo were named first-team All-SEC. Senior shortstop Kolby Branch was named second-team All-SEC.
The Bulldogs are getting ready for the SEC tournament as the No. 1 seed thanks to a 23-7 record. Johnson led the team through the league slate with just one series loss. Georgia won all five of its road series, beating Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Auburn and Texas A&M at their parks. The only series loss came at the hands of Florida, which took two of three from UGA at Foley Field.
Georgia, which finished the regular season with a 43-12 record, is a lock for a top eight national seed regardless of what happens in the SEC tournament. It had an 11-game win streak snapped on Sunday at Auburn after taking the first two games of that series.
Johnson is in his third season as the Bulldogs head coach. Georgia is poised to earn a top eight seed for the third straight season over the former LSU and Minnesota Twins pitching coach.
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Jackson was a big part of the Bulldogs’ success this season. He is the sixth player in the history of College Baseball to hit 25 or more home runs while stealing 25 or more bases. The junior from Sandy Springs currently leads the SEC in batting average, home runs, runs batted in, OPS, runs scored, slugging percentage, and hits. He’s batting .394 on the year with 27 home runs and 77 runs batted in. He ranks second in the SEC in on base percentage, reaching safely at just under 50 percent of his plate appearances.
When it comes to batting average, both Phelps and Lujo rank in the SEC’s top five. Phelps is ranked No. 2 while Lujo comes in at No. 5. Phelps is also tied for 9th in the SEC in home runs with 18. He ranks second in the league in runs scored.
Georgia, which has a double bye in the SEC tournament, will learn its opponent on Wednesday. It will play the winner of Mississippi State vs. Missouri/Ole Miss in Hoover on Thursday at 4 p.m.
