Baseball

LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Kentucky baseball players Sean Coughlin, Collin Cowgill, and Greg Dombrowski have all been tabbed as preseason All-Americans, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association announced Thursday.

Coughlin, a senior catcher who blasted 17 home runs a year ago, was named to the first team. The 6-foot-2, 215 lbs backstop batted .325, plated 55 runs, and had a .640 slugging percentage in leading Kentucky to its first ever Southeastern Conference Championship in 2006.

Coughlin edged out other talented catchers for the first-team spot, including Matt Wieters of Georgia Tech and J.P. Arencibia of Tennessee.

Cowgill, a Lexington product, was named as a third-team outfielder after blasting 16 home runs and 61 RBI in 2006. Cowgill batted .298 a year ago and was the only hitter under the .300 batting-average mark named as an All-American. The junior had a very productive summer, beginning with a tryout for the USA Junior National Team and then finishing off the summer in the Cape Cod League.

Crafty right-hander Greg Dombrowski also earned a third-team selection after winning 10 games as the Sunday starter for the Wildcats. Dombrowski notched a 2.83 ERA, good for the lowest ERA at UK since 1988. The junior relies on a dominating and accurate breaking ball and as a result, Dombrowski tallied the lowest walks/9 innings ratio in school history.

Last season, infielder John Shelby was tabbed as a preseason All-American by several publications. Shelby finished the season hitting 18 home runs, capped off as a fifth round draft selection by the Chicago White Sox.

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