Three University of Kentucky players were named pre-season All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Thursday.

Sophomore center fielder Austin Cousino, junior left-hander Corey Littrell and sophomore first baseman/pitcher A.J. Reed earned third-team recognition on the organization's 13th annual pre-season squad. No other school had more than two selections to the three teams, which totaled 58 players.

The UK trio are the first pre-season All-America selections for Kentucky since Chris Bisson was a third-team choice by Baseball America in 2010.

Cousino was the 2012 Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year. He and Reed were consensus freshman All-America selections. Littrell became just the second UK starting pitcher since 1997 to earn All-SEC honors.

Cousino, a Dublin, Ohio, native, led UK in average (.319), at-bats (260), runs (61), hits (83), doubles (20) and steals (15).

Littrell, from Trinity High School in Louisville, led UK pitchers with a 9-2 record and a 2.74 ERA, making 16 weekend starts with 87 strikeouts in 982⁄3 innings.

Reed, from Terre Haute, Ind., batted .300 with nine doubles, four homers and 43 RBI. He went 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA on the mound.

Kentucky, which finished 45-18 in 2012 and set a school record for wins in a season, opens its 2013 season on Feb. 15 against UNC Asheville at Spartanburg, S.C.