2023 Baseball Roster
Braedon Blackford
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- Ht./Wt.:
- 6-0 / 195
- Position:
- INF/C
- Hometown:
- Peoria, Ill.
- High School:
- Peoria Notre Dame
- Prev School:
- Illinois State
- B/T:
- L/R
• 2023 All-Horizon League First Team
• Horizon League Batter of the Week (March 8, 2023)
• Horizon League Academic Honor Roll (Fall 2022, Spring 2023)
2023: Started 55 games (44 at first base, four in right field, three in left, two at designated hitter and two at third base) ... Named All-Horizon League First Team after finishing fourth in the league in RBIs (61), fourth in home runs (14) ... fifth in slugging (.586), fifth in OPS (.979), sixth in doubles (17), seventh in runs (46) ... RBI total of 61 set a new single season Mastodon record ... 14 home runs tied for third most in a season in school history ... Team-high 21 multi-hit games ... Team-high 16 multi-RBI games (16) ... hit two home runs and a double vs. Cornell (March 4) ... Knocked two home runs with five runs knocked in while adding a single and a walk vs. Ball State (March 5) ... Drove in six runs with three hits vs. Oakland (May 13) ... Had three hits including two doubles at Bethune-Cookman (Feb. 24) ... Recorded three hits with a double and drove in a run in a victory at Michigan State (April 19).
2022: Played and started 19 games (15 at second base, four at shortstop) ... Hit two home runs for four RBIs at California Baptist (Feb. 26) ... Recorded two hits including a double with a run scored and an RBI at Tennessee Tech (March 4) ... Had a two-run home run and a single vs. Youngstown State (March 20).
2021 (at Illinois State): Used redshirt season.
2020 (at Illinois State): Started 14 games ... Split time between first base and outfield ... Slashed .241/.302/.379 with two home runs, two doubles, nine runs and five RBIs ... Finished second on the team with 22 total bases ... Four multi-hit games ... Home runs in back-to-back games against Oklahoma (Feb. 22) and Louisiana-Monroe (Feb. 28).
2018 & 2019 (at Carl Sandburg College): Two-year starter for the Chargers ... Led the team in 2019 in every major offensive category ... Finished the 2019 campaign third in NJCAA Division II in on base percentage (.571), third in slugging percentage (.919) and 10th in batting average (.447) ... Ranked 22nd nationally with 13 home runs and 26th with 61 runs scored over 168 plate appearances ... named a NJCAA Division II First-Team All-American by the JUCO Baseball Blog ... Tabbed all-conference and all-region ... Recognized with the NJCAA DII Player of the Week honor for April 1-7 ... helped the team to conference championships in both 2018 and 2019.
Other: Played for the Lafayette Aviators in the Prospect League in summer 2019 ... Member of the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League in summer 2021, hitting .279 with 29 hits and 24 walks ... Played with Mastodon teammate Jacob Myer on the Tobs. Played for the Peoria Expos of the Sunday Morning League in summer 2022.
Prep: Three-year starter for the baseball team ... Named all-conference in both basketball and baseball his senior year ... Invited to play in the Greater Peoria Area Baseball Coaches Association McDonald's All-Star Game in 2016 and again in 2017 ... Member of National Honor Society.
Personal: Son of Matt and Deanne Blackford ... Oldest of six children in his family ... father played baseball, football, soccer and tennis at Loras College ... Brother (Brody) plays football at Augustana College... Pursuing a masters degree in Organizational Leadership.
