Dayton Flyers

May 24, 2011

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Shortstop Brian Blasik and starting pitcher Burny Mitchem were named Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference in a voting conducted among the league's head coaches which was released by the Conference office on Tuesday. Blasik and Mitchem help make up a group of seven Flyers listed on the A-10 postseason honors list – the most in program history.

Rounding out the Flyers’ honors is second-team selection at first base C.J. Gillman, honorable mention catcher Danny Welch, honorable mention outfielder Bobby Glover, and all-rookie second baseman Mel Skochdopole. Sophomore relief pitcher Bryce Lahrman was named Academic All-Conference.

Blasik becomes the first Dayton player ever to earn back-to-back A-10 First Team All-Conference honors, after being named the conference’s top designated hitter in 2010. The Germantown, Ohio native has the second-best batting average in the A-10 at .386 while, in conference play, leads in runs scored (29) and triples (4). His 21 stolen bases are the third-most in a single-season at UD – three away from owning the record.

Despite missing the first 15 games of the season due to injury, Blasik is UD’s leader in homeruns (6) and has the team’s second-most hits (68) and runs scored (42). He has a hit in 35 of his 40 games played and began season on an 11-game hitting streak, which extended his overall hitting streak to a career-best 18 games dating back to 2010. Blasik was named the A-10’s Player of the Week on April 11.

Mitchem is Dayton’s first pitcher to ever be named A-10 First Team All-Conference after leading all A-10 pitchers in conference wins (7-0) and ranking third in overall ERA (2.11). The Farmington, Mich., native has won seven consecutive starts while Dayton has ended up the winner in each conference game Mitchem has started. Mitchem pitched three consecutive complete-game victories this season, including a complete-game shutout of Xavier to earn him A-10 Pitcher of the Week honors. Mitchem is coming off a career-high 10 strikeouts against Rhode Island last Thursday to help clinch Dayton’s spot in this week’s A-10 Championship. Mitchem also has three saves on the season.

Mitchem is currently second in career strikeouts at Dayton (243) and second and third in single-season strikeouts at Dayton – 86 in 2010 and 83 in 2011. Teammate Cameron Hobson leads in the program career strikeouts (245) and single-season strikeouts this season (94).

In his first season with the Flyers, junior first baseman Gillman set Dayton’s single-season hits record to land on the A-10’s Second Team All-Conference list. The Littleton, Colo., native leads the A-10 in overall hits (85) and during conference play, leads in batting average (.431), and hits (44). His 20 stolen bases are the fourth-most in a single-season at UD. Gillman has the third-most doubles in A-10 (19) and has the third-best on-base percentage in A-10 (.470). Just last week his career-best 18-game hitting streak came to an end against Rhode Island. Gillman is one of two Flyers to have started in all 55 games this season – of those 55 games, 24 were multi-hit games.

As one of the top defensive catchers in the conference, senior Welch was listed as an honorable mention behind the plate. Welch has 72 defensive assists on the season, including catching 24 runners stealing base. The Victoria, British Columbia native has started in 50 of 55 games as catcher and had a string of 39 consecutive starts. Welch recorded no errors during conference play while registering 19 multi-hit games and a 10-game hitting streak. Welch finished the regular season with a .278 batting average, 12 doubles and 29 RBI.

Junior outfielder Glover joins Welch as an honorable mention selection. As a newcomer, Glover started in 54 of 55 games, recorded just two errors all season, and has the second-most RBI for Dayton (36). The Fort Wayne, Ind., native has a .367 average during conference play with a hit in 20 of 24 league games. Glover has three games with four RBI – totaling eight mutli-RBI games this season. Glover has 64 hits, 19 multi-hit games, and a season-best eight-game hitting streak.

Freshman second baseman Skcohdopole was listed on the all-rookie team after finishing the season with a .298 batting average on 48 hits. Despite a slow 2-for-19 start to the season, the Indianapolis native adjusted to college pitching to hit in the .300s most of the season. As UD’s only starting freshman, Skchdopole was named Rookie of the Week on April 4. Skochdopole hit career-high marks of four hits and five RBI against Canisius on March 12.

Lahrman becomes the second UD player in the last five years to be named Academic All-Conference. The Wauconda, Ill., native has a 3.78 cumulative GPA, the highest on the team, as an economics and marketing major. Lahrman ended the regular season with 21 strikeouts through 13 appearances and seven starts on the mound. Lahrman is the first Flyer to earn Academic All-Conference distinction since Quinn Haselhorst in 2007 and 2008.

Xavier first baseman Ben Thomas was named the Conference’s Player of the Year, junior Andrew Smith of Charlotte was honored as the Conference's Pitcher of the Year, while fellow 49er teammate Tyler Barnette was named Rookie of the Year. Rhode Island's Jim Foster was tabbed Coach of the Year.

The Flyers are the No. 3 seed in this week’s Atlantic 10 Championship and will play No. 6 La Salle on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Camden, N.J.