University of Tennessee Athletics
Curley Lands SEC Freshman of the Week Honors After Record-Setting Performance
March 11, 2024 | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the second straight week and third time this season, Tennessee had a player take home weekly award honors from the Southeastern Conference.
Dean Curley was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after leading the Volunteers in home runs and RBIs last week.
The California native continued the impressive start to his freshman campaign with a team-leading 11 RBIs, which ranked fourth in the SEC and first among freshmen in the league.
Curley put forth one of the greatest individual offensive performances in program history during Tuesday's 15-5 midweek win over Kansas State, tying UT's single game record with three home runs while becoming the first freshman to achieve the feat. He was mere feet away from accomplishing one of the rarest feats in sports when he flew out to the warning track in his final at-bat to narrowly miss a solo homer that would have completed the home run cycle.
The freshman infielder hit a grand slam, a three-run homer and a two-run shot to finish with a Tennessee freshman record nine RBIs for the night, one shy of tying the single-game program record. Culey went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in Saturday's series-clinching victory over Illinois and added RBIs in both Friday and Sunday's wins over the Fighting Illini to help extend the Vols' winning streak to 15 games, which is tied for the third longest in program history. Â
Curley joins junior pitcher AJ Causey (Feb. 19) and junior third baseman Billy Amick (March 4) as Vols who earned SEC weekly awards already this season. He is the first Tennessee player to garner freshman of the week honors since Blake Burke on May 16, 2023, and the seventh to do so in the Tony Vitello era.
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Dean Curley was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after leading the Volunteers in home runs and RBIs last week.
The California native continued the impressive start to his freshman campaign with a team-leading 11 RBIs, which ranked fourth in the SEC and first among freshmen in the league.
Curley put forth one of the greatest individual offensive performances in program history during Tuesday's 15-5 midweek win over Kansas State, tying UT's single game record with three home runs while becoming the first freshman to achieve the feat. He was mere feet away from accomplishing one of the rarest feats in sports when he flew out to the warning track in his final at-bat to narrowly miss a solo homer that would have completed the home run cycle.
The freshman infielder hit a grand slam, a three-run homer and a two-run shot to finish with a Tennessee freshman record nine RBIs for the night, one shy of tying the single-game program record. Culey went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in Saturday's series-clinching victory over Illinois and added RBIs in both Friday and Sunday's wins over the Fighting Illini to help extend the Vols' winning streak to 15 games, which is tied for the third longest in program history. Â
Curley joins junior pitcher AJ Causey (Feb. 19) and junior third baseman Billy Amick (March 4) as Vols who earned SEC weekly awards already this season. He is the first Tennessee player to garner freshman of the week honors since Blake Burke on May 16, 2023, and the seventh to do so in the Tony Vitello era.
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