GENEVA, Ill. — Former UK first baseman and 2006 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Ryan Strieby was selected to the 43rd annual Midwest League All-Star game, held Tuesday night at Elfstrom field in Geneva, Ill.

Strieby, a fourth-round MLB Draft selection by the Detroit Tigers in 2006, has performed splendidly for the West Michigan Whitecaps, a class-A affiliate of the Tigers. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound slugger has played in 65 games this season for West Michigan, batting .291 with six home runs, 15 doubles, one triple, and 35 RBI. The Seattle, Wash. native, has walked 30 times while reaching base at a .372 clip.

In the All-Star game, Strieby came on in the sixth inning to play first base, tallying two at bats. In his first at bat of the game, Strieby struck out swinging, only to redeem himself with a line-drive single to centerfield in his second plate appearance of the evening.

Strieby came to Kentucky from Edmonds CC for his junior season and quickly had a dramatic impact on the landscape of college baseball at UK, flourishing in the ultra-competitive SEC, batting .343 with 20 home runs and a school record 77 RBI. During the 2006 SEC Championship season, Strieby etched his name into UK baseball lore by becoming the first UK player to earn SEC Player of the Year honors in school history, in addition to receiving numerous first-team All-America nods.

Last June, Strieby became UK?s highest drafted player since Joe Blanton was picked up by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 2002 MLB Draft.