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AU Athletics
Junior shortstop Ryan Bliss earned his fifth All-America honor of the 2021 season as he was tabbed Third Team All-America by D1 Baseball on Monday.
Bliss has now been named First Team All-America by NCBWA, Second Team All-America by ABCA/Rawlings, Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game/Rawlings and Third Team All-America by D1 Baseball. A complete list of D1 Baseball All-America Teams can be found here: www.d1baseball.com/awards/player-of-the-year-kevin-kopps-leads-d1baseball-all-americans/.
Along with his All-America honors, Bliss has also been named ABCA First Team All-Southeast Region, Second Team All-SEC, a SEC All-Defensive Team performer and a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
A native of LaGrange, Georgia, Bliss finished the regular season as the only player in the SEC to rank in the top five in average (.366), slugging (.664), runs (31), hits (48), doubles (nine), home runs (10), RBI (30) and total bases (87) during league games. He also ranked in the top five in the league overall in average (.362), slugging (.643), hits (75) and total bases (133) during the regular season.
Bliss collected multiple hits in a league-best 26 of 51 games during the regular season, including 16 of 30 games in SEC play, and finished the year with a homer and another multi-hit effort in the Tigers’ SEC Tournament game vs. Ole Miss. His .365 average and 15 home runs are the most by an Auburn shortstop in the same season since Doug Gilcrease hit .386 with 17 home runs in 1982.
Bliss has played and started in all but two games during his Auburn career and is a .328 career hitter with 176 hits in 134 contests. He’s added 121 runs, 32 doubles, four triples, 20 homers and 99 RBI while turning in a .972 career fielding percentage.
