PEORIA, IL—According to an annual poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, Bradley Baseball has two representatives on the preseason All-MVC team. Senior Andrew Ivelia and junior Luke Mangieri are recognized as preseason all-conference picks, Ivelia as a utility player and Mangieri at first base.
The 2018 season will be Ivelia's second as a Brave. After transferring to Bradley from Everett Community College in Washington, Ivelia played in all 51 games for the Braves in 2017. Of those 51 games, Ivelia played 50 as a starter at four different positions—2B (35), 3B (6), LF (5), RF (4).
In the last two seasons, Mangieri has finished with the Braves' second-best batting average. He is Bradley's active leader with a .310 avg. and more than doubled his RBI production from 2016 to 2017. An All-MVC pick in 2016, Mangieri has played in 94 games in his career, starting all 51 for the Braves in 2017. He ended the 2017 campaign on a 3-game hitting streak while going 6-for-13 with a double, a walk and three RBI's.
Ivelia and Mangieri will open the 2018 season with the Braves Feb. 16 when they travel to Atlanta, Ga., to face the Panthers of Georgia State. The contest versus Georgia State begins Bradley's 16-game road trip before the team returns to Peoria to host Chicago State on March 21.
