The University of Mississippi Athletics
Trio Of Rebels Tabbed For All-SEC Honors
5/29/2012 | Baseball
May 29, 2012
OXFORD, Miss. - A trio of Rebels were honored with selection to All-SEC teams by the league's coaches for the 2012 season as Alex Yarbrough, Matt Snyder and Bobby Wahl were named to the annual honors, the Southeastern Conference office announced on Tuesday.
Yarbrough was named an All-SEC first team selection at second base, while Snyder and Wahl were tabbed as second-team selections at first base and pitcher, respectively. Yarbrough was also named to the All-Defensive Team, while Snyder was also named to the Community Service Team.
Yarbrough anchored the middle of the infield for the Rebels this season at second base, turning in an almost flawless performance on the season with only two errors in the field through 59 games so far this season for a .992 fielding percentage. The junior committed his first error in the second game of the season and then turned in a stretch of 456 consecutive innings without an error before committing only his second error in the field.
At the plate, Yarbrough has led the Rebels with a .389 batting average and is second in the SEC in batting average and hits (91), while ranking in the top 10 of six offensive categories that also includes on base percentage, slugging percentage, doubles and total bases.
Snyder has been one of the top power hitters in the SEC this season and the top run producer as he has posted 12 home runs and tallied a league-leading 57 RBI while hitting at a .333 clip this season. The senior hit 10 of his 12 home runs in league play, leading the category for conference games only by a large margin for most of the season.
Like Yarbrough, the first baseman also ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in six offensive categories, including slugging percentage, doubles, home runs and total bases in addition to being the league RBI leader. He also committed only one error in the field this season to field at a .998 clip at first base.
Snyder was also named to the SEC Community Service team for his efforts in the local community that include participation in activities like Reading With The Rebels, the Rebel Rerun program, visits to St. Jude Children's Hospital and the program's annual Bats and Balls clinic for area youth to learn baseball.
Wahl was the third Rebel to earn selection to an All-SEC team by the league's coaches after being one of the top pitchers in the league this season. Wahl posted a 6-3 record and is second in the league with a 2.26 ERA and fourth in the league with 90 strikeouts this season. He was twice named the SEC Pitcher of the Week after posting shutout wins over UNC-Wilmington and No. 1 Florida.
The sophomore right-hander turned in nine quality starts on the season as the Friday night starter in the Rebels' weekend rotation, and picked up his six wins against No. 10 TCU, UNC-Wilmington, Houston, Auburn, No. 1 Florida and Tennessee. He took no decision, but left the game with the Rebels holding to a lead against No. 1 Kentucky, Georgia and No. 4 LSU.
Ole Miss will continue its season this weekend with NCAA Tournament play at the College Station Regional hosted by Texas A&M. The Rebels will open the weekend against TCU at 12:35 p.m. on Friday.