Bradley University Athletics

Baseball Announces 2019 Team Awards

Junior shortstop Luke Shadid claimed three annual awards, including A.J. Robertson Most Valuable Player

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 5/31/2019 8:00:00 AM

PEORIA, IL – Junior shortstop Luke Shadid (Peoria, IL/Notre Dame H.S.) collected a trio of team awards, including the A.J. Robertson Most Valuable Player, according to the release of the annual team awards as selected by the players and coaching staff.

An All-Missouri Valley Conference second-team selection, Shadid led the 2019 Braves in batting with a .344 batting average and 49 runs scored, while sharing the team lead with 12 doubles. Despite batting in the leadoff position for all 50 games, Shadid also finished second on the team with 42 RBI and .574 slugging percentage. His combined 1.62 runs produced per game (RS + RBI – HR / games) topped all Valley players through the end of the regular season.

In addition to the A.J. Robertson Award, Shadid earned Bradley's Rod Thompson Award by posting the team's best batting average, as well as the players-selected Troy Guidotti Hustle Award for the third consecutive season.

Luke's older brother, Andy Shadid (Peoria, IL/Notre Dame H.S.) earned his fourth consecutive Kirby Puckett Gold Glove, becoming the first player since the award's inception in 1992 to earn the award four times.

In its 39th year, the Mike Dunne Award for Bradley's best pitcher went to senior RHP Mitch Janssen (Princeville, IL/Princeville H.S.). The No. 1 starting pitcher all season, Janssen finished his senior year 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA in his 16 appearances, while boasting a .199 opponent batting average. Janssen's 15 starts tied for the fourth-best single season total in program history, while his 2.06 ERA goes down as the third-best by a Bradley pitcher with at least 1.0 IP/game since metal bats were introduced to college baseball in 1974.

Freshman 1B Connor O'Brien (San Diego, CA/Rancho Bernardo H.S.) was selected for the Tim Trunk Award as the team's most improved player. O'Brien earned All-MVC first-team accolades by batting .282 with seven doubles, four home runs and 25 RBI in his 46 games, including 42 as a starter.

Senior 2B Christian Dominguez (Washington, IL/Washington H.S.) is the ninth recipient of the Phil Kaiser Memorial Award. The son of Bradley head coach Elvis Dominguez, Christian played sparingly during his first three years, primarily as a defensive replacement or pinch runner, but was part of the season-long platoon at second base in 2019. Dominguez hit .274 in his 30 games, including 22 as a starter, with five extra-base hits and 11 RBI.

The quintet of award winners helped Bradley to a 31-19 overall record and fourth-place tie in the Missouri Valley Conference at 11-10 in league play. The Braves secured consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time since 1992-96 and consecutive winning Valley records for the first time since 1986-87.

Print Friendly Version