University of Tennessee Athletics
Mascia & Neely Earn SEC Postseason Honors
May 21, 2018 | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee redshirt sophomore Nico Mascia was named SEC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year while junior pitcher Will Neely earned a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
Mascia and Georgia's Keegan McGovern were named Co-Scholar Athletes of the Year for their play on the field as well as their achievements in the classroom. Mascia is just the second Tennessee player to ever earn the honor, joining Derek Lance, who won the award in 2016.
Mascia had a breakout season for the Vols, finishing third on the team with a .278 batting average while hitting nine doubles and tying for third on the team with five home runs. He also led the team with a .487 slugging percentage and .439 on-base percentage after appearing in just one game during his first two years with the program.
The Knoxville native is also a star in the classroom with a 3.99 GPA, which is the highest on the team. Mascia is majoring in biomedical and chemical engineering and hopes to attend medical school to become a surgeon. The designated hitter/catcher was also named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 3 Team, as selected by CoSIDA earlier this month. Mascia has been a member of the Dean's List during every semester of his collegiate career and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll last year.
Also earning All-SEC postseason honors for the first time in his career was Neely, who was one of nine players to earn a spot on the league's all-defensive team. The junior right hander was a rock on the mound for Tennessee all season long as the team's Sunday starter. The Knoxville native finished the season with a 4-2 record and threw at least five innings in 12 of his 14 starts. Neely tied for the SEC lead with three complete games this season and was fantastic defensively with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on 16 chances.
The complete listing of postseason award winners and All-SEC teams can be found HERE.
Mascia and Georgia's Keegan McGovern were named Co-Scholar Athletes of the Year for their play on the field as well as their achievements in the classroom. Mascia is just the second Tennessee player to ever earn the honor, joining Derek Lance, who won the award in 2016.
Mascia had a breakout season for the Vols, finishing third on the team with a .278 batting average while hitting nine doubles and tying for third on the team with five home runs. He also led the team with a .487 slugging percentage and .439 on-base percentage after appearing in just one game during his first two years with the program.
The Knoxville native is also a star in the classroom with a 3.99 GPA, which is the highest on the team. Mascia is majoring in biomedical and chemical engineering and hopes to attend medical school to become a surgeon. The designated hitter/catcher was also named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 3 Team, as selected by CoSIDA earlier this month. Mascia has been a member of the Dean's List during every semester of his collegiate career and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll last year.
Also earning All-SEC postseason honors for the first time in his career was Neely, who was one of nine players to earn a spot on the league's all-defensive team. The junior right hander was a rock on the mound for Tennessee all season long as the team's Sunday starter. The Knoxville native finished the season with a 4-2 record and threw at least five innings in 12 of his 14 starts. Neely tied for the SEC lead with three complete games this season and was fantastic defensively with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on 16 chances.
The complete listing of postseason award winners and All-SEC teams can be found HERE.
Players Mentioned
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