WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University baseball team had three players honored by the University Athletic Association (UAA) today. Second-baseman Benjamin Bavly of Newton, Mass., was named the UAA Rookie of the Year and a second-team All-UAA All-Region selection. Senior centerfielder Liam O'Connor of Avon, Conn., was first-team All-UAA, while classmate Ryan Healy of Carlsbad, Calif., was a second-team All-UAA choice as an outfielder and pitcher.
Bavly, who played in and started all but one game this season, is the Judges' seventh UAA Rookie of the Year since 2001. Bavly hit .340 and led the UAA with seven triples, setting a Brandeis single-season record that had stood since 1979 in the process. He also led the team with four home runs, tied for second in the league, and finished fourth in the UAA with a .563 slugging percentage. Bavly was named UAA Hitter of the Week once and twice made an appearance on the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week this season.
O'Connor is one of the Judges' former Rookies of the Year, having earned the honor in 2013, when he was a second-team All-Association pick. O'Connor led the UAA with a .426 batting average during the regular season, ranking second in the conference with a .485 on-base percentage and third with 63 hits. His .426 average is the seventh-best single season in school history, while his 63 hits are tied for 6th. He also had a 14-game hitting streak during the season, the fourth-longest in the league. O'Connor was named UAA Hitter of the Week once this season. For his career, O'Connor is a .339 hitter with 172 hits, eighth on the Judges' career list.
Healy had a tremendous season for the Judges as the starting right-fielder and closer on the mound. He started all 37 games this season and led the league with 18 doubles – one shy of tying four others for Brandeis's single-season record – and a .624 slugging percentage. At the plate, Healy also finished in the UAA top 10 in triples and home runs, placing fourth and seventh, respectively with three each. On the mound, he finished second in the conference with five saves, compiling a 3-1 record with 2.82 ERA in 22.1 innings over 14 appearances. Healy only allowed a run in three of his 14 outings, with six of his seven earned runs coming in his only start of the season. His five saves are tied for the third-most in a single season, while his.371 career batting average is fifth all-time.
In their first season under head coach Derek Carlson '91, the Brandeis baseball team finished with a 19-17-1 record, their best since 2011. The Judges qualified for the postseason for the first time in five years, reaching the ECAC Division III New England tournament semifinals.
Click here for the full 2016 All-UAA Baseball Team.
For more information on Brandeis Athletics, please visit brandeisjudges.com or follow us on Twitter or Instagram @brandeisjudges, or follow us on Facebook.
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