By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After helping the Tennessee Tech baseball team become just the second Ohio Valley Conference program to post back-to-back 40-win seasons, three Golden Eagles received honors of the highest level Thursday, earning All-American status from Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
One of the premier outlets in all of amateur baseball, Collegiate Baseball newspaper honored seniors Daniel Miles and Brandon Thomasson as members of the Louisville Slugger All-American First Team and junior Dylan Bosheers as a member of the Louisville Slugger All-American Second Team.
The Golden Eagles stand as the only team in the nation with multiple position players named to the First Team, as only nine are selected each season. Tech was also just on one of two teams to have multiple players named First-Team All-American, joining No. 1 ranked Oregon State.
Thomasson and Miles became the first set of teammates to earn All-American First Team honors from Collegiate Baseball newspaper in OVC history. They also joined former Eastern Kentucky Colonel Josh Anderson and former Golden Eagle great Chad Oberacker as the only OVC players to ever garner First Team status from the publication.
An outfielder from Royal Palm Beach, Fla., Thomasson put together one of the greatest displays of power in a single season in OVC history in 2014, crushing a league-best 22 home runs while leading the nation with 76 RBI and 46 extra base hits. He finished the year just one long ball off the national pace set by Collegiate Baseball newspaper's National Player of the Year, A.J. Reed of Kentucky. The slugger also ranked second only to Reed in terms of slugging percentage, racking up a mark of .721 in 58 games.
Thomasson broke the single-season school record for RBI while finishing just one base shy of tying the single-season mark for total bases. He tallied 176 on the year, ripping team highs of 20 doubles, four triples, and the 22 bombs. He scored 60 runs while totaling 82 hits for an average of .336.
Behind a monster season at both the plate and in the field, Miles became the first Golden Eagle ever to garner All-American nods in two different seasons. The Pascagoula, Miss. native took home All-American Honorable Mention from CollegeBaseballInsider.com as a junior before bursting onto the national scene this season. Maintaining massive numbers all year, he earned a spot on the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List as well as being named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.
Miles started 58 games at the hot corner for the Golden Eagles, leading the team with a .380 batting average and 67 runs scored, a mark that ranked second nationally. The third baseman also ranked in the top 10 in Division I baseball with 90 hits on the year, the third highest single-season total in Tech history. He wrapped up his 2014 campaign with 17 doubles, a triple, and 11 home runs, driving in 54 while recording an on base percentage of .481.
One of just 16 names still remaining on the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Watch List, Bosheers took home his first career All-American nod as a Second-Teamer after batting an impressive .368 with 86 hits and 66 runs scored (third in the nation) in 59 games. Just a junior, he shattered his previous season-best mark of six home runs by clubbing 11 in 2014, driving in 56 runs to go along with a slugging percentage of .577.
A native of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., Bosheers played spectacular defense on his way to being named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, making just nine errors all year for a fielding percentage of .965.
With three players named All-American Second Team or higher, Tech became the first OVC program to achieve the feat and just the second to have at least three players honored by the publication.
OVC Player of the Year Matt Tellor, a first baseman from Southeast Missouri, also garnered Second Team honors.
To view all of the 2014 Louisville Slugger All-American selections, CLICK HERE.
