Bradley Lands Nine on All-MVC Baseball Squad

Bradley's nine all-conference awards are the second-most in program history and represent every area of the field

James Franks

2019 Baseball All-MVC Release

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 5/21/2019 9:30:00 AM

NORMAL, IL – Freshman 1B Connor O'Brien (San Diego, CA/Rancho Bernardo H.S.) landed on the first team, headlining the list of nine Bradley players to earn All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, according to a vote of the league's eight head coaches released by the MVC office Tuesday morning.

In addition to O'Brien, Bradley placed six players on the All-MVC second team and two more earned honorable mention, giving the Braves their second-largest postseason haul of all-conference awards in program history, trailing only last year's recognition of 10 players.

Bradley's nine all-conference players have helped the Braves (31-18, 11-10 MVC) to a second straight 30-win season for the first time since 1995 and 1996 and consecutive winning conference seasons for the first time since 1986 and 1987. The Braves tied for fourth in The Valley standings and are the No. 5 seed for this week's MVC Baseball Championship, opening tournament play Tuesday with a 5:30 p.m. single-elimination game against No. 8 Southern Illinois at Illinois State's Duffy Bass Field. The Bradley/Southern Illinois winner will advance into the league's six-team, double-elimination postseason tournament bracket and a Wednesday afternoon matchup against host and No. 2 seed Illinois State.

O'Brien emerged as Bradley's starting first baseman early in the season and he enters the 2019 MVC Baseball Championship as the team's third-leading hitter with a .289 batting average. He enjoyed a particularly strong conference season, batting .351 with six doubles and 12 RBI in Bradley's 21 Valley games. His .351 batting average in league play ranked fifth-best in The Valley and his six doubles in conference play paced the Braves.

Bradley's six second-team honorees includes brothers Andy and Luke Shadid (Peoria, IL/Notre Dame H.S.). Bradley's fourth-year starter in center field, Andy Shadid becomes a three-time All-MVC selection, after earning honorable mention notice as a freshman in 2016 and again as a junior last year. Ranked among Bradley Baseball's career top 10 in six categories, Andy Shadid will become the fifth player in program history to start 200 games tonight when the Braves take on Southern Illinois in the first round of the MVC Tournament. Bradley's third-year starter at shortstop who leads the Braves in batting (.348) and run production (1.61 runs produced per game), Luke Shadid has earned postseason honors for the first time in his career. The Shadid brothers have combined to hit 18 home runs and drive in 83 runs for the Braves this season.

The Shadids were joined on the All-MVC second team by junior LF Dan Bolt (Morton, IL/Morton H.S.), junior RHP Theron Denlinger (Cuba City, WI/Cuba City H.S.), senior RHP Mitch Janssen (Princeville, IL/Princeville H.S.) and sophomore C Keaton Rice (Geneseo, IL/Geneseo H.S.). Junior 3B Brendan Dougherty (Des Moines, IA/Dowling Catholic H.S.) and senior RHP Sam Lund (Sun Prairie, WI/Sun Prairie H.S.) both were named honorable mention All-MVC.

Bolt leads the Braves with 11 home runs, a .606 slugging percentage and a .459 on-base percentage, while joining the Shadids in the 40 RBI club with 40 runs batted in to date. His 1.065 OPS is the best by a Bradley player since Mike Tauchman posted a 1.110 OPS during his 2013 MVC Player-of-the-Year season and he joins DBU slugger Bryce Ball (1.075) as the only two Valley players with quadruple digit OPS numbers this season. Bolt enters the MVC Tournament riding a team season-best on-base streak by reaching safely in 27 consecutive games.

A junior college transfer from Madison College, Denlinger has pitched at the back of the Bradley bullpen all season and leads the Braves with 21 mound appearances this year. The flame-throwing righty is 1-2 with a 2.14 ERA and six saves, boasting 23 strikeouts and a .149 opponent batting average in his 21.0 IP.

Known as Bradley's "Pilot Pitcher," Janssen has ranked among the national leaders in earned run average all season. In 15 appearances this season, including a team-best 14 starts, Janssen is 4-2 with a 1.94 earned run average, which currently ranks 19th nationally and is the second-best season ERA in the metal bat era (since 1974) by a Bradley pitcher.

Bradley's No. 1 catcher in each of his first two seasons, Rice has managed a pitching staff that enters the MVC Tournament ranked eighth nationally with a 3.33 earned run average and fifth in the nation by allowing just 7.17 hits per nine innings. Though hitting .214, Rice ranks third on the team with a .425 on-base percentage, thanks in large part to his team-leading 40 walks and nine hit-by-pitches. He also shares the team lead with 12 doubles. Named the catcher on the MVC All-Defense Team, Rice has thrown out one-third (18-of-54) of the runners who have tried to steal against him, while picking off three more runners.

The 2017 MVC Freshman of the Year, Dougherty has earned honorable mention All-MVC honors for a third consecutive season. He enters the MVC Tournament batting .285 with 11 doubles and a team-best five triples. Following right behind Bolt, he has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games.

In his second year at Bradley after transferring from Madison College, Lund has started 26 games for the Braves in his two-year career. In his 15 appearances this season, the senior RHP shares the team lead with five wins, posting a 5-3 record with a 3.76 ERA to date.

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