FAYETTEVILLE — The SEC champion Arkansas Razorbacks raked in some of the top hardware from the league’s annual awards Monday, befitting of a club that became the second team to win all 10 of its SEC weekend series.
Coach Dave Van Horn was voted SEC coach of the year by his peers, and se - nior Kevin Kopps was selected as SEC pitcher of the year to lead the way for the University of Arkansas.
The No. 1 Razorbacks (42-10, 22-8 SEC) placed Kopps, designated hitter Matt Goodheart and second baseman Robert Moore on the All-SEC first team, and center fielder Christian Franklin and starting pitcher Patrick Wicklander on the second team.
Additionally, outfielder Cayden Wallace was voted onto the All-SEC freshman team, while Moore, Franklin and Kopps were chosen to the All-SEC defensive team.
The league also announced a All-SEC new-co m e r te a m fo r s e c - ond-year players whose first seasons in 2020 were disrupted by the covid-19 cancellation, and Moore and pitcher Peyton Pallette made that unit.
The other top individual awards went to Mississippi State’s Tanner Allen as SEC player of the year, Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Leiter as newcomer of the year, Vanderbilt’s Enrique Bradfield Jr. as freshman of the year, and Ole Miss’ Tim Elko as scholar-athlete of the year.
The Razorbacks are the top seed for this week’s SEC Tournament, which starts today, and have a bye into the double-elimination portion of the bracket. Arkansas will face the winner of Tuesday afternoon’s Georgia vs. LSU game.
Van Horn, who has led the Razorbacks to six College World Series appearances, guided Arkansas to one of its best regular seasons. The Razorbacks won all 13 of their weekend series, plus a sweep of then-No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 10 Texas and No. 11 TCU to open the season. Arkansas went 34-9 in weekend games, including 11-4 in SEC road games.
Arkansas has been the unanimous No. 1 team in the country for several weeks in a row and has held down the top spot in the USA Today coaches poll for the last seven weeks, since taking two of three games at No. 3 Ole Miss on April 10-11. The Razorbacks are considered a strong candidate for the top seed in the NCAA Tournament bracket, which comes out Monday.
Van Horn, 60, a former Razorback infielder and assistant coach, also won SEC coach of the year in 2004 when Arkansas shared the SEC title with Georgia.
Kopps has had a season like no other pitcher in Arkansas history. The right-hander from Sugar Land, Texas, leads the nation with a 0.75 ERA and is second with a 0.80 WHIP. Kopps is 10-0 with 8 saves, a .158 batting average against and 14.47 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranks fifth in the country. He has 97 strikeouts and 15 walks.
Goodheart, a senior from Magnolia, has a .279 average with 12 home runs, 31 RBI a .412 on-base percentage and a team-high 34 walks.
Moore (.285) is tied with Brady Slavens for the team lead with 13 home runs and has 46 RBI, 3 triples, a .560 slugging percentage and a .973 fielding percentage. Moore hit for the cycle during a 21-8 win over the University of Central Arkansas on March 30, the first Razorback to accomplish that feat since Kyle Harris in 1994.
Franklin, a preseason All-America selection, is hitting .293 with 12 home runs, 50 RBI, a .574 slugging percentage and a .421 on-base percentage. Franklin has not made an error in 105 chances and has three outfield assists.
Wicklander, a junior left-hander, compiled a 5-1 record and 1.89 ERA while moving into the weekend rotation early during conference play. He leads the Razorbacks with 62 innings pitched, has a .222 batting average against and 71 strikeouts.
Wicklander’s ERA is 13th nationally and second in the SEC behind Kopps.
Wallace (.308) is the team leader in batting average among regulars. He became the eighth Razorback to hit two home runs in a game this season when he hit one to right field and one to left field during a 6-1 victory over No. 8 Florida in the series opener Thursday. Wallace has 12 home runs, 36 RBI, a .535 slugging percentage, .390 on-base percentage and no errors in 76 chances with 4 outfield assists.
Perhaps the largest snub for the Razorbacks was the first baseman Slavens (.298, 13 HR), whose 59 RBI rank third in the SEC behind Auburn’s Tyler Miller (61) and LSU’s Gavin Dugas (60).