OMAHA, Neb. - A quartet of Bradley baseball players were honored with all-conference recognition during the annual pre-tournament banquet prior to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship Monday night. Junior pitcher Joe Bircher and sophomore outfielder Mike Tauchman both landed second-team All-MVC notice, while junior designated hitter Brad Kimball and sophomore shortstop Jason Leblebijian earned honorable mention recognition.
Leblebijian has earned honorable mention All-MVC in each of his first two years with the Braves. After batting .323 as a freshman last year, Leblebijian will take a .323 average into the MVC Tournament. Bradley's second-leading hitter, Leblebijian leads the Braves with 14 doubles.
Bircher is Bradley's top starting pitcher and leads the Braves in most every pitching category. The Omaha native is 6-5 with a 3.03 earned run average, aided by his 2-hit shutout May 6 versus Southern Illinois.
Tauchman's team-best .347 batting average ranks fifth in The Valley and he leads the Braves with 32 runs batted in. Kimball is tied for second on the team with 28 RBI's.
The Braves are the No. 8 seed for the State Farm MVC Baseball Championship and will open the tournament in the 7:30 p.m. game Tuesday versus host and regular-season champion Creighton. Fourth-seeded Missouri State and fifth-seeded Southern Illinois join the Braves in Bluejays in the tourney's Bracket B and one of those teams will be Bradley's Wednesday opponent in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. or in the winner's game at 7:30 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.