Jan. 24, 2007

Plenty of accolades and a return to the NCAA Tournament are among Baseball America's preseason projections for the Tennessee baseball team this spring.

The publication released its Southeastern Conference preview this week, tabbing Tennessee to finish third in the SEC Eastern Division and join seven other league schools in the 64-team field competing for a trip to the College World Series. The Vols also had a league-high three players chosen to Baseball America's preseason All-SEC team.

Junior catcher J.P. Arencibia leads the UT trio on the all-conference squad and was also picked as the preseason SEC Player of the Year. The slugging backstop returns for his third season on Rocky Top after hitting .352 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs last season.

Centerfielder Julio Borbon and left-hander James Adkins round out the All-SEC selections for UT -- one of just two schools in the league with multiple all-conference selections and the only program with three.

The junior Borbon, who is expected to miss the first six-to-eight weeks of the season with a fracture in his left ankle, hit .366 while stealing 19 bases and scoring 45 runs for the Vols last season. He was also named to Baseball America's preseason All-America second-team.

Adkins, one of the finest strikeout artists in school history, was one of four league hurlers given preseason All-SEC honors. The junior, who struck out 112 batters a year ago and needs 99 more punch-outs this season to become UT's all-time leader, was also projected as the fifth-best professional prospect in the SEC -- joined by Arencibia (No. 2) and Borbon (No. 3) in the top-five. Looking ahead to next season, sophomore shortstop Tony Delmonico was projected as the fourth-best prospect in the 2008 MLB Draft.

The junior trio also earned recognition for possessing some of the "best tools" in the conference. Borbon was named the Best Athlete and the Fastest Runner, while Arencibia was lauded as the Best Defensive Catcher and the Catcher with the Best Arm. Adkins' curveball was named the Best Breaking Ball in the conference, and senior Craig Cobb was also recognized as owning the Best Changeup in the SEC.

Baseball America also hailed the April series between UT and mid-state rival Vanderbilt as one of the best series in the conference, if not the country, this season. The Vols and Commodores -- the only other school with multiple All-SEC selections in the preseason -- meet April 20-22 in Nashville for a set that will feature five possible first-round picks and four members of last summer's USA Baseball National Team.

Arencibia and Borbon teamed with left-hander David Price and third baseman Pedro Alvarez on the national team last summer to win the FISU World University Championships gold medal.