BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – A pair of SIUE Cougars have earned spots on the Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Baseball team.
Redshirt-sophomore designated hitter Brady Bunten (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and junior outfielder Brett Johnson (Joliet, Illinois) were each chosen to the 16-member team announced Thursday. Both were second team selections following the 2021 season.
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Bunten paced the Cougars with 13 home runs in 2021, good for the No. 6 spot in a single season at SIUE, also the second-most home runs in a season at the Division I level, He led SIUE with 42 RBIs and a .606 slugging percentage and finished with an OPS of .971, which was third highest on the team. Bunten hit .280 in 47 games and 46 starts.
Johnson finished fourth on the team in hitting at .305 last season. He tied for second on the team with 58 hits, while leading the team with 46 runs scored, good for seventh in the OVC. Johnson tied for the team lead in triples with three, was third on the team with 10 home runs, and fourth on the team with 33 RBIs. He led the team, and finished fifth in the OVC, with 14 stolen bases in 17 attempts.
Southeast Missouri shortstop Tyler Wilber was chosen as the league's Preseason Player of the Year while Eastern Illinois' Cameron Doherty was selected as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
The league's head coaches, and sports information personnel also predicted the Cougars for a sixth-place finish in the preseason poll. Southeast Missouri was chosen to repeat as OVC champions. Murray State, Morehead State, Austin Peay and Belmont placed above the Cougars in the preseason poll.
SIUE opens its 2022 season with a three-game series at Southeastern Louisiana beginning Fri, Feb. 18.
