Horizon League Announces 2014 Baseball Awards

INDIANAPOLIS –Milwaukee senior outfielder Ryan Solberg was named the 2014 Horizon League Baseball Player of the Year in voting of the league’s head coaches, the League office announced Tuesday.

Also receiving recognition were Wright State’s Joey Hoelzel and Valparaiso’s Dalton Lundeen (Co-Pitchers of the Year), while the rest of the specialty awards went to Wright State as Andrew Elliott (Relief Pitcher of the Year), Sean Murphy (Freshman of the Year) and Greg Lovelady (Coach of the Year) were all recognized.

Solberg led the Horizon League with a .371 batting average and .575 slugging percentage. The Waukesha, Wis., native tied for League-high honors with seven home runs and ranked second with 41 RBI and a .452 on-base percentage. The senior also led the conference in stolen bases going 24-for-25 in his attempts.

Hoelzel went 7-4 with a 3.43 ERA this season. He threw two complete games and one shutout in his 13 starts. He led the HL in innings pitched (89.1) and tied for the League-high with seven wins. He also ranked among League leaders with his 3.43 ERA and 55 strikeouts.

Lundeen went 4-6 for the Crusaders this season, but paced the conference with his 2.17 ERA. The sophomore walked just 10 batters in 74.2 innings and had a 56:10 K:BB ratio in the regular season. 

Elliott claimed Relief Pitcher of the Year after leading the League with 13 saves. The junior has a 0.77 ERA this season in 35.0 innings of work. He has struck out 48 batters, while giving up just 21 hits as opposing batters are hitting just .177 against him this season.

Murphy batted .305 and slugged .458, good for seventh in the Horizon League. He collected 58 hits, including 11 doubles, three triples and four home runs. The freshman scored 37 runs, recorded 31 RBI and went 9-for-11 in stolen base attempts.

For leading Wright State to a Horizon League regular season title in his first season as head coach, Lovelady earned Coach of the Year honors. The Raiders went 33-20 overall and 25-4 in conference play, earning the No. 1 seed in this week's Horizon League tournament. The 25 wins in the Horizon League season are the most since Notre Dame had 27 (27-5) in the 1990 season, and the Raiders conference winning percentage of .862 is the best in the League since Notre Dame won 90 percent of its games (18-2) in the 1992 season.

2014 Horizon League Baseball Superlatives
Player of the Year: Ryan Solberg, Milwaukee (Sr., OF)
Co-Pitchers of the Year: Joey Hoelzel, Wright State (Sr.) & Dalton Lundeen, Valparaiso (So.)
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Andrew Elliott, Wright State (Jr.)
Freshman of the Year: Sean Murphy, Wright State (C)
Coach of the Year: Greg Lovelady, Wright State

First Team
P – Dalton Lundeen, Valparaiso (So)
P – Joey Hoelzel, Wright State (Sr.)
C – Alex Jurich, UIC (Sr.)
1B – Jeff Boehm, UIC (Jr.)
2B – Michael Timm, Wright State (Jr.)
SS – Mike Brosseau, Oakland (So.)
3B – Michael Morman, Valparaiso (Sr.)
OF – Ryan Solberg, Milwaukee (Sr.)
OF – Robby Enslen, Oakland (Jr.)
OF – Tyler Detmer, UIC (Jr.)
OF – Jeff Limbaugh, Wright State (Sr.)
DH – Jacob McNamara, UIC (Sr.)
UTL – John Coen, UIC (Sr.)

Second Team
P – Tim Koons, Oakland (Sr.)
P – Robby Sexton, Wright State (So.)
C – Sean Murphy, Wright State (Fr.)
1B – Pat Wilson, Milwaukee (Sr.)
2B – Alex Lee, UIC (Jr.)
SS – Ryan McShane, Milwaukee (Jr.)
3B – Mickey McDonald, UIC (Fr.)
3B – Jack Murphy, Wright State (Sr.)
OF – Alex Larivee, Youngstown State (Fr.)
OF – Chris Manning, Valparaiso (Sr.)
OF – Connor Philbin, UIC (So.)
DH – Jason DeFevers, Wright State (So.)
UTL – Tyler Hermann, Milwaukee (Jr.)

All-Freshman Team (Not Position Specific)
P – Mitchell Schulewitz, UIC
P – Mario Losi, Valparaiso
P – Ellis Foreman, Valparaiso
P – Kevin Yarabinec, Youngstown State
C – Sean Murphy, Wright State
1B – Zach Sterry, Oakland
SS – Cody Bohanek, UIC
3B – Brett Krause, UIC
3B – Mickey McDonald, UIC
OF – Alex Larivee, Youngstown State
OF – Brad Macciocchi, Wright State