Crimson Tide Freshman Earn Honors

Alabama Baseball was off to a 16-1 start this season before the NCAA terminated the season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Crimson Tide's successful start to the year was due to many aspects, one of those being a talented freshman class. Three Alabama freshman were named Freshman All-Americans by the College Baseball News.

Outfielder Owen Diodati, pitcher Antoine Jean and pitcher Connor Prielipp were all honored as Freshman All-Americans. It was the first time in program history that Alabama had three freshman honored in the same year, previously the Tide's best year had seen two honorees, both in 1999 and 2013.

Additionally, Prielipp was named one of CBN's four National Freshman Players of the Year. He is the first Tide baseball player since Wade LeBlanc earned the award in 2004. Prielipp and LeBlanc are the only Alabama baseball players to be named Freshman Player of the Year.

Diodati, the 6-foot-2 outfielder from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada earned SEC Co-Freshman of the Week in February. He led SEC freshman in RBIs with 22 and slugging percentage percentage at .673. He led the team in RBIs this season and ranked second in home runs. Diodati was third in the SEC in RBIs and seventh in homeruns.

Jean, the 6-foot-1 pitcher from Montreal, Quebec, Canada tied for the team lead in wins with three across his four starts this season. Jean struck out 17 batters and allowed three walks finishing the year with a 3.18 ERA.

Prielipp, the  6-foot-2 pitcher from Tomah, Wisconsin won three games in his four starts. Additionally he was named First Team All-American by CBN. He posted a 0.00 ERA over 21 innings pitched this season, striking out 35 while only walking six. Prielipp held batters to a .077 batting average, the lowest in the SEC.

While it is disappointing to have the year cancelled early, the future is bright for the Crimson Tide.