Four Bulls Make College Sports Madness' Preseason All-MAC team
2/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BUFFALO, NY - A quartet of Bulls were named to www.collegesportsmadness.com's 2012 Mid-American Preseason All-Conference Teams, headlined by junior Tom Murphy's nod as the conference's top field player. Alex Baldock, Mike Burke and Matt Pollock also received preseason recognitions on the second team. The Bulls were tied with Kent State and Northern Illinois for the most players on the two teams, with four.
As the reigning conference player of the year, Murphy is coming off a 2011 season in which he batted .385 with 10 home runs and 44 runs batted in. He also had a stint with the USA Baseball National Collegiate team and the New England Collegiate Baseball League's Holyoke Blue Sox. The honors kept rolling in through the summer and preseason, with the West Monroe, NY native being honored as the top NECBL prospect and the sixth-best catching prospect in the country by Perfect Game USA, a national scouting service. Murphy was also named to the 1st team all conference list.
Baldock batted .320 last season with 18 doubles, four home runs and 24 runs batted in while starting in all 52 games. The junior first baseman posted a career high in every category in 2011 and is one of five infielders on the website's All-MAC second team. Pollock had one of the team's biggest breakout seasons in 2011, hitting six home runs with 22 runs batted in and a .298 batting average in his 51 games. As one of the team's best runners, Pollock also had eight stolen bases and slugged .473 as the main leadoff man for UB. Rounding out the quartet is sophomore Michael Burke. Coming in as the conference's second-team utility man, Burke was the team's anchor at shortstop and also served as the mid-week starting pitcher. Making 43 starts, Burke batted .261 with 41 total hits and 19 runs batted in. Also a standout in summer ball, Burke was named to the Prospects League All-Star team for the Lorain County Ironmen, batting .344 with 10 extra-base hits and 28 runs batted in over 52 games.
The Bulls will kick off the 2012 season in just a few short weeks, heading down to SEC country for a season opener against the Kentucky Wildcats. First pitch is set for Friday, Feb. 24 at 4 pm.
