Bradley's Big Ten Challenge

?    Bradley faces its version of the Big Ten Challenge this week as the Braves will visit Illinois Tuesday night and host Northwestern Wednesday at 7 p.m. at O'Brien Field for its only two games against the neighbor conference this season.

?    Although Illinois owns a 36-16-2 all-time record against Bradley, the Braves will carry a four-game series winning streak against the Illini into Tuesday's game.

?    Bradley has played surprisingly few games against the state's other Big Ten member as the Braves own a 6-4 series lead against Northwestern.

?    The teams have played only one time since 1975, an 8-6 Northwetern victory April 13, 2005 in Evanston.

Back on Valley Road

?    Following Wednesday's visit from Northwestern, Bradley will be back on the road for a three-game weekend series at Creighton.

?    Creighton owns a 53-43 lead in the all-time series, but the Braves took 3-of-4 games last year, including a 1-0 victory in a MVC Tournament elimination game at Wichita State's Eck Stadium.

Countdown to 1,000:  12

?    Following Sunday's 9-8 win at Missouri State, Bradley head coach Dewey Kalmer has lowered his magic number for 1,000 career wins to 12.

?    In his 39th year overall as a collegiate head coach, Kalmer brings a 988-877-5 (.530) career record into this weekend's action.

?    Kalmer is 14th among NCAA Division I active coaches with his 988 wins and he has a chance to become the 36th coach in Division I history to achieve 1,000 career wins.

And Two More to 800

?    While pursuing his 1,000th career win, Kalmer also needs only two more victories for 800 Bradley wins:  he owns a 798-735-4 (.520) record in his 28th year at Bradley.

?    Kalmer's 798 wins at Bradley represent 48.7 percent of the program's overall total of 1,640 wins in 107 seasons.

Near No-Hitter

?    Bradley came within a hair of getting its first no-hitter since March 17, 1993 during Tuesday's 5-1 win against Saint Louis.

?    Starter Jon Goebel was perfect in his 5.0 innings of work and Eitan Barbalat took the no-hitter into the eighth until Bill Musselman beat out an infield single to open the eighth.

?    After Luke Etchison surrendered a pair of walks in the ninth, Tyler Thornton got the final two outs to earn his first save.

Curry the Road Warrior

?    Senior second baseman Ryan Curry continues to swing the hot stick for the Braves, batting .533 (8-15) during Bradley's 2-2 week, and he now shares the league lead in hitting at .438 for the season.

?    Curry has been particularly hot on the road, where he is hitting at a .476 (40-84) clip in 20 games.

?    Of Curry's league-best 15 doubles, he has hit 14 on the road, a number that still would lead The Valley.

Eigsti's Streak

?    Junior catcher Ryan Eigsti started all four games last week and now has started 44 consecutive games behind the plate for the Braves.

?    The workload does not appear to be adversely affecting Eigsti, who is second on the team in hitting with a .364 average and has reached safely in 17 consecutive games.

?    In his last five games, Eigsti is hitting .500 (9-18) with a home run and two doubles.

2007 MVC Standings

Thru April 9             MVC         Overall

Team               W-L  Pct.  GB    W-L   Pct.

#8 Wichita State   7-2  .778  ---  26-8   .765

Creighton          6-3  .667  1.0  19-11  .633

Southern Illinois  4-2  .667  1.5  22-9   .710

Evansville         5-4  .556  2.0  22-12  .647

Illinois State     5-4  .556  2.0  14-15  .483

Missouri State     4-5  .444  3.0  19-13  .594

Bradley            2-4  .333  3.5  14-12  .538

Northern Iowa      2-7  .222  5.0  12-16  .429

Indiana State      1-5  .167  4.5  15-14  .517

Non-Conference Record             127-75  .629