BIRMINGHAM – Alabama outfielder Tyler Gentry was selected to the 2020 Southeastern Conference Baseball Preseason All-SEC Second Team, the league office announced on Thursday. The junior was also named a preseason third team All-America honoree by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
Gentry returns for his second season in Tuscaloosa after a standout campaign in 2019. He played in all 56 games with 55 starts and led Alabama in nearly every offensive category as a sophomore. Gentry finished as the team’s leader in average (.310), hits (65), home runs (13), RBI (42), slugging percentage (.552) and total bases (116) while tying for the team high in doubles (12) and runs scored (37). He also paced the Crimson Tide with 12 multi-RBI performances and matched the team-high mark for multi-hit games (17). His efforts at the dish helped him to finish tied for seventh in home runs and rank 14th in total bases across all SEC hitters during the regular season.
In league play, the Arlington, Tenn., native totaled at least one hit in 25 of 30 conference pairings and ended the 2019 season on a 14-game hitting streak against conference opponents. That 14-game stretch saw Gentry bat .385 (20-52) with four doubles, four home runs, eight RBI, 10 runs scored, five walks, three hit-by-pitch and two stolen bases.
For the All-SEC squads, the league’s 14 head coaches vote on the preseason teams with coaches unable to vote for their own players. Ties at any position were not broken.
