The preseason accolades just keep coming for Kentucky Baseball. With only 8 days left before the season opener, it was announced today that sophomore centerfielder  Austin Cousino was named Preseason SEC Player of the Year by Baseball America in its 2013 preview of the conference, a really good read for anyone that wants to see how the experts see the Cats’ season playing out and an in depth look at the conference as a whole. Along with the big-time award, Cousino was also rated the best defensive outfielder in the SEC and the second-best SEC prospect in the 2014 MLB Draft. These honors only adds to the laundry list of awards Cousino has received since coming to Lexington that includes 2012 SEC Freshman of the Year, a spot on the 2012 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, 2013 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association third-team preseason All-American, and 2013 Baseball America second-team preseason All-American. Wondering how a kid can rack up this many awards after just one season of collegiate baseball? Take a look at the numbers.

I don’t see how you could be any more excited for February 22nd at this point. The team is coming into this season with some of, if not the highest rankings in the program’s history, and has a player regarded by some of the most accredited collegiate baseball writers out there as the best in the SEC. Think about that for a second. Out of all the talent in the SEC, arguably the best collegiate baseball conference in the country, the best player is a Wildcat. This is a huge step towards the program becoming a consistent conference and national contender.

@brooksHoltonKSR