BATON ROUGE — Five LSU baseball players were recognized as Preseason All-SEC selections, with the Tigers also being named the favorites to finish in first place in the conference on Thursday. 

LSU received nine first-place votes as the favorite to win the SEC championship, followed by Mississippi State, Arkansas and Texas. 

The Preseason All-SEC selections were determined in a vote by the league’s 16 head coaches. 

LSU also has the most First-Team All-SEC selections with three, and LSU and Texas are tied for the most overall First and Second-Team selections with five.

Sophomore outfielder Derek Curiel, sophomore right-handed pitcher Casan Evans and senior right-handed pitcher Zac Cowan received First-Team Preseason All-SEC recognition, and junior shortstop Steven Milam and junior outfielder Jake Brown were voted to the Second Team.