WICHITA, Kan. - Statistics and accolades continue to build for Wichita State catcher Chris O'Brien:

• He is on a career-high 24-game hitting streak, which ranks among the top-10 in Shocker history.

• O'Brien is an All-America candidate and one of 13 semifinalists for the 2011 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award, given annually to the top NCAA Division I catcher. He also is one of 36 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, awarded to the top player in collegiate baseball.

The junior switch hitter paces the Shockers' offense entering this week's 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship in Omaha, Neb. The No. 2-seed Shockers play No. 7-seed Evansville at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.

"Chris is having a fantastic offensive year," Wichita State head coach Gene Stephenson said. "Defensively, he has a great ability to mold young pitchers and get the most out of each and every one of them. He has been an incredibly positive influence for the team on both offense and defense."

O'Brien also has 49 runs scored, nine homeruns and a .992 fielding percentage.

However, his long list of notable individual statistics this season doesn't define success in O'Brien's mind. His main focus rests on how the Shocker pitching staff fares each game.

"The more shutouts we get, the better I feel," O'Brien said. "My priority is to get the pitcher through the game."

O'Brien, 21, was born in Milwaukee, Wis., but grew up in Tulsa, Okla., where he attended Bishop Kelley High School.

The 6-foot-tall, 219-pounder grew up with two older sisters and one younger brother, living the life of a Major League Baseball player's son.

His father Charlie O'Brien was an All-American catcher for the Shockers in the early 1980s and went on to play 15 years in MLB.

Chris remembers frequently shagging fly balls during batting practice for some of his father's eight big league teams. His favorite memories of those times include sliding on the fake turf at the Toronto Blue Jays' home ballpark to snag grounders, running out on the field after the Atlanta Braves won the 1995 World Series and celebrating in the plastic-covered Braves locker room after the game.

"It was every kid's dream and I got to live it," O'Brien said.

Baseball was just part of everyday life in the O'Brien household.

The now-Shocker recently watched an old home movie showing just how long ago he first picked up the sport.

"I saw I was just able to walk and had a bat in my hand and my dad was tossing me the ball," O'Brien said.

His father continues to help him improve his baseball skills still today - especially in the catcher position.

"He's probably my biggest coach," O'Brien said. "He sees things that a lot of people don't because he did it.

"He makes me better."

The two enjoy hunting.

In his spare time outside of baseball, O'Brien looks forward to hunting anything, anywhere, from pheasant to deer to ducks.

"It's good to go out in the middle of nowhere and get away and just think," he said.

This week O'Brien and his Shocker teammates seek Wichita State's 18^th MVC Tournament championship.

Additional individual accolades may soon follow.

O'Brien is the second Shocker named as a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award.

The three finalists will be announced June 6 and the winner announced at the 14^th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 30.

The Dick Howser Trophy will be awarded June 21, prior to the fourth day of the 2011 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.

He now feels comfortable in the catcher position after starting his college career as an infielder, but O'Brien continually looks for individual improvement despite his impressive statistics.

"Everything I need to work on - from top to bottom," O'Brien said.