PEORIA, Ill. -- A pair of Bradley baseball players, junior pitcher Eitan Barbalat (Thornhill, Ontario/Westmount Collegiate Institute) and junior catcher Ryan Eigsti (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.), have landed on the University Division of the 11-player ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District V squad, which was announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Barbalat boasts a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average while majoring in cell and molecular biology. The 6-foot-1 right-hander has overcome a potentially life threatening blood clot in his shoulder that ended his 2006 season to become a solid utility hurler for the Braves this season. He enters this weekend's series against Evansville with a 1-1 record, one save and a 1.78 earned run average in his 25.1 innings to date this year. He is working on a streak of four appearances and 14.1 innings, including a 6.0-inning start April 18 against Chicago State, without allowing an earned run.
Eigsti sports a 3.62 cumulative GPA as a construction major and was a first-team Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete in his first year of eligibility for the award last spring. A strong-armed catcher, Eigsti enters this weekend's Evansville series with a .320 batting average, and by driving home at least one run in seven of the last eight games, he ranks second on the team with 32 runs batted in.
As first-team Academic All-District qualifiers, both Barbalat and Eigsti are eligible for the 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America squad, which will be voted on next week. In order to be eligible for ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America consideration, nominees must be in the second year at their institutions and own a minimum 3.20 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Additionally, the nominees must be starters or important reserves. CoSIDA's District V includes institutions located in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and Ontario.
Barbalat and Eigsti are the only Valley players on the District V squad and make up one of the three sets of teammates on the 11-player squad. Illinois and Notre Dame both put two players on the District V team. Wichita State pitcher Rob Musgrave and Creighton infielders Michael Lam and Darin Ruf all were voted to the District VII first team and will join the Bradley tandem on the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America ballot.
