2021 All-MVC Baseball Teams Announced

Bradley lands three first-team all-conference selections for the first time since 1977

2021 All-MVC Baseball Teams

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 5/25/2021 10:05:00 AM

CARBONDALE, IL – For the first time since 1977, Bradley has landed three student-athletes on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Baseball First Team, according to a vote of The Valley's eight baseball head coaches announced Tuesday in advance of the 2021 MVC Baseball Championship.

Five Bradley players in total were recognized by the league coaches: senior RF Dan Bolt (Morton, IL/Morton HS), senior 3B Brendan Dougherty (Clive, IA/Dowling Catholic HS) and sophomore 1B Connor O'Brien (San Diego, CA/Rancho Bernardo HS) all received first-team recognition, while junior RHP Matt Hamilton (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek HS) landed on the second team and redshirt junior RHP Theron Denlinger (Cuba City, WI/Cuba City HS) received honorable mention.

The 2021 season is the sixth in program history highlighted by three All-MVC first-team selections, a distinction previously achieved following the 1961, 1962, 1963, 1968 and 1977 seasons.

Bolt entered the 2021 season as the first player in program history to garner preseason All-America and Valley Player-of-the-Year plaudits. He backed up the preseason hype by batting .345 with nine home runs during the regular season. In addition to leading The Valley with a .483 on-base percentage during the regular season, his 1.080 OPS entering the MVC Tournament ranks as the fourth-best single-season average by any Bradley player since 2000.

A three-time honorable mention selection at third base, Dougherty becomes the first player in Bradley Baseball history to earn All-MVC recognition four times in his career. Dougherty enters the MVC Tournament on a tear, having reached base safely in 36 consecutive games, the longest streak of games reaching base safely since at least 1999. Dougherty, who has started 194 consecutive games at third base, enters the postseason third on the team with a .312 batting average and he shares the team lead with 28 RBI's from his leadoff position.

O'Brien is a repeat first-team selection and becomes the first Bradley player to receive first-team honors twice in his career since DH Greg Partyka in 2013 and 2014. Currently leading The Valley with a .370 batting average, O'Brien is the first Bradley position player to repeat as a first-team All-MVC selection since Daren Epley, also a first baseman, went back-to-back in 1987 and 1988. In addition to the all-conference award, O'Brien also was named to the MVC All-Defense Team, having committed just one error with a .996 fielding percentage in his 37 games.

Hamilton has emerged as an ace on the mound for the Braves down the stretch and he enters the MVC Tournament with a 5-1 record and 4.61 earned run average. Hamilton's first five appearances of the season came from the bullpen, but he responded to his first start of the year by tossing a 7-inning complete game in Bradley's 10-1 win April 2 at Missouri State. He has followed up that performance by posting a 4-0 record with a 2.87 ERA in his six MVC starts.

Bradley's closer the last three seasons, Denlinger earned All-MVC second-team honors in 2019 and once again has been recognized for his efforts on the back end of the bullpen. Having appeared in 16 games, this hard-throwing right-hander is 0-2 with a 3.24 ERA and six saves while averaging 11.34 strikeouts per nine innings. His six saves in 2021 are tied for the sixth-best single-season total in program history and have raised his career total to 13 saves, the third-best total at Bradley.

Led by the quintet of all-conference honorees, Bradley (20-20, 12-10 MVC) rides into the 2021 MVC Baseball Championship as the No. 3 seed for the fourth time in six years. The 12 league wins are the most by the Braves since 2007 and Bradley now has posted a winning league record with at least 11 conference victories for the first time in program history.

The Braves will open the MVC Baseball Championship in the double-elimination portion of the tournament by facing host and fourth-seeded Southern Illinois in Wednesday's 7 p.m. game at Itchy Jones Stadium. The entire tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at siusalukis.com.

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