Valley City State University baseball sophomores Jaden Babiuk and Hunter Magnuson have been named 2^nd Team All-Conference, the North Star Athletic Association conference office announced Thursday.
 
The awards were handed out Thursday night in Dickinson, N.D., at the NSAA Honors Banquet, which was held on the eve of the conference tournament. Babiuk was named 2^nd Team All-Conference as a catcher while Magnuson received the honor as a starting pitcher.
 
Senior outfielder Drew Nixon and senior infielder Adam Thompson were both named Honorable Mention All-Conference. Senior infielder Ryan Reynolds was named the NSAA Champions of Character representative from VCSU.
 
Babiuk led the Vikings and was fifth in the NSAA with a .396 batting average this season. Babiuk drove in 33 runs during the year and upped his batting average to .406 in conference games. He tallied a .539 slugging percentage with 12 doubles, two triples and two home runs, and had a .451 on-base percentage in the regular season. Defensively, Babiuk caught more than half of VCSU's games this year and leads the conference with 15 runners thrown out.
 
Magnuson has come into his own as a starting pitcher during his sophomore campaign. He's posted a 3-4 record and a 4.21 ERA in 62 innings pitched this season. Magnuson ranks 9^th in the conference in ERA and is 7^th in strikeouts/9 innings – tallying 66 strikeouts in 62 innings. In conference play, Magnuson has been exceptional with a 2.41 ERA in 41 innings. His conference ERA ranks 4^th in the NSAA.
 
Nixon has blasted 12 home runs during his senior season, which ranks him second in the conference. He leads VCSU's team in both home runs (12) and RBI (38). In 28 conference games, he has hit eight home runs and 27 RBIs.
 
Adam Thompson has posted a career-best .343 batting average this season, hitting mainly out of the leadoff position. He's also tallied five home runs and has a .525 slugging percentage. All five of his home runs have come in conference play.
 
Reynold was chosen as VCSU's Champions of Character representative, a student-athlete who best represents the NAIA's five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.
 
Valley City State is the No. 7 seed for the NSAA Conference Tournament that starts Friday in Dickinson. The Vikings face No. 2 seed Dakota State in the opening round at 5 p.m. CDT/4 p.m. MDT.