Braves 4th, Dougherty and Shadid Preseason All-MVC

Bradley Baseball was picked fourth in the 2019 MVC Baseball preaseason coaches poll, while Brendan Dougherty and Andy Shadid both were tabbed preseason All-MVC

MVC Preseason Poll

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 1/29/2019 12:06:00 PM

ST. LOUIS – A pair of Bradley players landed on the preseason all-conference team and the Braves were tabbed for fourth place in The Valley team standings, according to a vote of the Missouri Valley Conference baseball head coaches released by the league office Tuesday.

Junior third baseman Brendan Dougherty (Des Moines, IA/Dowling Catholic H.S.) and senior centerfielder Andy Shadid (Peoria, IL/Notre Dame H.S.) both were recognized by the league's eight head coaches on the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference preseason all-conference squad. Bradley joined Missouri State (3), Dallas Baptist (3) and Indiana State (2) as the four teams with multiple honorees on the 12-player preseason team.

Not coincidentally, Missouri State topped the preseason poll with 59 points and five first-place votes, followed by DBU (58, 2), Indiana State (49, 1) and the Braves (39). The bottom four teams in the preseason poll are Southern Illinois (31), Illinois State (28), Valparaiso (13) and Evansville (11).

One of the most-improved teams in the nation by W-L record last season, Bradley (32-19 in 2018) also is receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball News preseason top 40 poll. For the first time in a quarter-century, the Braves return their top three hitters for a second consecutive season and for the first time in the program's 119-year history, Bradley returns three pitchers who each started at least 13 games the previous season.

Dougherty and Shadid are among the team's top three returning hitters. The 2017 MVC Freshman of the Year and a two-time all-league pick, Dougherty is a .315 career hitter who has started all 96 games he has played in his first two seasons. A starter in 150 of his 151 career games, Shadid also is a two-time All-MVC pick. He led the Braves with a .326 batting average in 2018 while earning a spot on the MVC All-Defense team for the second time (2016) in his career.

Joined by junior shortstop Luke Shadid (.325), the Braves return their top three hitters for a second consecutive season for the first time since 1993 (40-16) and 1994 (35-26), a two-year period that saw Bradley Baseball post a 75-42 (.641) record.

In addition to the returning offensive numbers, the Braves welcome back senior RHP Mitch Janssen (16 starts), senior LHP Cole Cook (13) and senior RHP Sam Lund (13), a trio of pitchers who combined to make 42 of Bradley's 51 pitching starts last season. In total, Bradley loses only one pitching start from last year's staff – 2018 MLB draft pick Boby Johnson started the third-round MVC Tournament game versus Dallas Baptist.

The Braves will open their 2019 season Feb. 15-17 by visiting Central Arkansas for a 3-game series in Conway, AR. The pre-conference schedule will continue with road trips to the Nashville area for four games in the Mule Mix Classic Feb. 21-24, UTSA March 1-3, UNLV March 8-10 and to the Orlando area for five games in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational March 17-23. After visiting Iowa March 26 and hosting MacMurray in the home opener March 27, Bradley will start Valley play by hosting Evansville March 29-31 at Dozer Park.

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