Five Missouri Valley Conference baseball student-athletes were named to the Louisville Slugger NCAA Division I All-American team, as announced by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper today.  Wichita State’s Chris O’Brien and Evansville’s Cody Fick were selected to the second team, while Wichita State’s Charlie Lowell and Creighton’s Trever Adams and Jonas Dufek earned third-team honors.

CHRIS O’BRIEN, WICHITA STATE
O'Brien, a junior catcher from Tulsa, Okla., earned Joe Carter Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Year honors.  He hit .410 with 56 runs, 100 hits, 25 doubles, 10 home runs and 70 RBI.  He also finished the season on a 29-game hitting streak, which ranks fifth-best in Shocker history.  O'Brien is also a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.

CODY FICK, EVANSVILLE
Fick proved to be one of the top two-way players in the country, as he led Evansville in the majority of offensive and defensive categories. At the plate, Fick piloted UE with a .406 batting average, .641 slugging percentage, 86 hits, 71 RBI, nine home runs, 21 doubles, and 136 total bases in 2011. He finished the season ranked third nationally, averaging 1.39 RBI per game and is in the top 50 in eight offensive categories. Fick recorded 29 mult-hit games and 19 multi-RBI games this season and finished his career on a 14-game hitting streak.

The Freeburg, Mo. native finished 7-4 on the mound with five complete games, two shutouts, a 2.36 ERA, and limited his opposition to a .223 batting average.

In UE’s career record books, Fick ranks second in RBI (182) and in home runs (37), and third in career batting average (.353).

Fick marks the UE baseball program’s seventh All-American and first since 2000 to earn Collegiate Baseball All-America honors.

CHARLIE LOWELL, WICHTIA STATE
Lowell, a junior left-handed pitcher from Old Monroe, Mo., earned Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher-of-the-Year honors.  He went 10-5 with a 2.79 ERA.  He also struck out 124 in 103.1 innings pitched. 

TREVER ADAMS, CREIGHTON
Adams, who was also tabbed first-team All-MVC last week and made the MVC All-Tournament team, led the Bluejays all season long offensively.  He currently holds a .392 batting average, but spent most of the season above the .400 plateau.  He has 87 hits (the most for a Bluejay since Vince Pietro and Ryan Gripp had 90 and 92, respectively, in 1991.  Adams currently has reached base safely in 42-straight games, the longest streak since at least 2000. 

The Lincoln, Neb., native is the first Bluejay outfielder to be named first-team All-MVC since Chris Hinrichs in 2000.  He sits on the career charts in three different categories: 4th in slugging percentage in a career (.667), 5th in batting average in a career (.374) and tied for 10th in home runs in a season (14).  He needs just one more home run to break into the top 10 list in home runs in a career, as he currently sits at 26.

JONAS DUFEK, CREIGHTON
Dufek leads the team and the Missouri Valley conference with 11 wins this season, compiling an 11-1 record heading into the NCAA Regional tournament.  With a 2.17 ERA, Dufek has allowed just 73 hits in his 103.2 innings of work this season.  He is second in the Valley with 118 strikeouts this season, a figure which puts him 3rd on the all-time Creighton charts.  His name will also be scattered through the charts following his senior season including the following: innings in a career (9th with 262.2 innings), strikeouts in a career (T-7th with 235), wins in a season (T-5th with 11), wins in a career (T-5th with 21), and winning percentage in a season (2nd with .917) and in a career (4th with .676.) 

Dufek was named first team All-MVC, after earning the MVC Pitcher of the Week on March 21.  In last week's MVC Tournament, the Omaha native threw 10.2 innings, allowing just one earned run and compiling a 0.84 ERA.  He was the only pitcher to go 2-0 in the tournament, earning the win in his first outing as well as the MVC Championship game.  He was named to the All-Tournament team and picked up the MVC Tournament MVP award.