DALLAS – Tennessee had four players named All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday.
First baseman Blake Burke was tabbed a first-team selection while second baseman Christian Moore was a second-team pick. Pitchers Drew Beam and AJ Causey were both named to the third team.
Moore and Causey are both first-time All-America selections, increasing UT’s total number of All-Americans to 58 in program history.
Burke has had the most productive season of his career, as he enters this weekend ranked second in the country with a career-high 28 doubles after combining for just nine in his first two seasons. His 28 doubles are also the third most in a single season in UT history.
The Brentwood, California, native ranks in the top 10 of the SEC in batting average (.376), runs (67), hits (97), slugging percentage (.713) and total bases (184), earning second-team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive team honors this season.
Burke also posted a program record 31-game hit streak earlier this season from March 1 through April 23, which broke Condredge Holloway’s 49-year old record of 27 straight games in 1975.
Moore is having one of the greatest single seasons in program history and was also tabbed a first-team All-SEC selection and one of 25 semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.
The junior second baseman won the Triple Crown with his stats in league play, leading the SEC with a .429 batting average, 20 home runs and 41 RBIs in conference play while also leading the league with 57 hits and 123 total bases. Moore finished second in slugging percentage (.925) and fifth in runs scored (37).
Entering play this weekend, Moore ranks second in the nation with 101 hits and ranks in the top-25 nationally in home runs (fourth – 32), runs (18th – 75), slugging percentage (16th – .796) and total bases (second – 214).
Moore ranks in the top 10 in UT single-season annals in multiple categories, including first in home runs (32), second in total bases (214), third in extra-base hits (49), fifth in hits (101), sixth in runs (75), seventh in slugging percentage (.796) and tied for eighth in RBIs (71). The New York native is just the fourth player in UT history to reach the 100-hit mark in a season, joining program legends Chris Burke (2000 & 2001), Jeff Pickler (1998) and Todd Helton (1995).
Beam earned All-America honors for the second time in his career after also doing so as a freshman in 2022. The junior righthander leads the team with 17 starts and 93.1 innings pitched this season and ranks third on the squad with eight victories while racking up 85 strikeouts.
Causey has been a breakout star for the Big Orange this season and enters the College World Series tied for first in the country with 13 wins. The Jacksonville State transfer has earned a win or a save in 14 of his 17 outings with eight of his victories coming against SEC foes.
The junior righthander has posted a 13-3 record with a 3.77 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 17 appearances this season. With his win over Evansville in last weekend’s NCAA Super Regional opener, Causey moved into a tie for fourth on UT’s single-season wins list and is two shy of tying the program record of 15 held by Vol legends Luke Hochevar (2005) and R.A. Dickey (1994).
