Junior Connor O'Brien highlighted the Bradley baseball team awards, announced on Friday.
The first player in program history to collect first-team All-Valley honors on three occasions, O'Brien received the team's A.J. Robertson MVP Award. The junior, who also earned the Rod Thompson Award for owning the top batting average on the team, became the fourth Brave in school history to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average. He ranks 22nd nationally with a .392 mark, while also placing 33rd in the country with 1.54 hits per game.
Overall, O'Brien's .392 average ranks sixth in school history. He also led BU with 74 hits, a .456 on-base percentage and a .624 slugging percentage, while ranking second on the team with 10 home runs, 14 doubles, 44 runs scored and 44 RBI.
Freshman Jacob Kisting earned the Mike Dunne Award as the team's best pitcher, the first rookie to receive the award since Brett Stong in 2013. A second-team All-Valley selection (Bradley's first starting pitcher to earn the award as a freshman since 1994), Kisting led BU with six wins on the mound in 2022. He ranked fourth in the MVC by allowing opponents to hit just .245 against him, while placing seventh with 79 strikeouts.
Sophomore Ryan Vogel was the recipient of Bradley's Kirby Puckett Gold Glove Award and the Troy Guidotti Hustle Award. Vogel received honorable mention to the All-Valley Team in his second full season on campus. The team's centerfielder led BU with a .993 fielding percentage, while also enjoying his best season at the plate. Vogel hit .312 from the leadoff position in 2022, leading Bradley with 48 runs scored to go with five home runs, 11 doubles, three triples and 21 RBI.
Junior Connor Manthey was named the program's Tim Trunk Most Improved Player. After starting 15 games in his first three seasons on campus, Manthey appeared in 43 contests with 37 starting assignments as a junior. The team's third baseman hit .246, while ranking third on the team with six home runs. Manthey also added eight doubles, 18 runs scored and 29 RBI during the 2022 campaign.
Junior Adam Brian was the team's final award winner, receiving the Phil Kaiser Memorial Award as the best teammate. Brian was the team's back-up catcher as a junior, recording nine hits in 17 starting assignments behind the plate.
The Braves finished the 2022 campaign by placing fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with an 11-10 league record. It marks the first time in school history that the Braves posted four-straight winning seasons in MVC play.
Original source can be found here.
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