PEORIA, Ill. ?
The Bradley softball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason coach's poll, announced by the league office Wednesday. Junior pitcher Ashley Birdsong (Otis, Ore./Taft H.S.) was named to the preseason all-conference team.
Bradley received 46 points in the vote, six points behind sixth-place Missouri State. The Braves are coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in more than a decade, and lost just two starters to graduation.
"I am really excited about the progress we have made with the program," third-year head coach Buddy Foster said. "We have improved ourselves over the last couple years and I look forward to continue to build this softball program into one that will contend for The Valley title."
Last season, Foster guided the Braves to a 26-23 record, the most wins in a single season since Bradley posted 29 victories in 2004. In addition, last season's .531 win percentage was the best effort since the 1995 squad went 35-20-1 for a .625 mark. The pitching staff turned in another stellar performance last season with 342 strikeouts, topping the 2006 mark of 317 that was the most since 1986 when the pitching rubber was moved back to its current distance.
Birdsong will head into the season as the clear ace of the pitching staff and joins Creighton's Tara Oltman as pitchers on the All-Valley preseason team. The preseason all-conference honors come after Birdsong was named to the all-tournament team at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament last season.
"We have a little more pitching depth this season," Foster said. "Birdsong is our leader in the circle and will get the ball in every series. Pitching has become the strength of our team."
The offense, which hit .235 as a team, belting 25 home runs and scoring 288 runs in 49 games last season, has made significant progress since the end of last season according to Foster. Seniors Trish Kowalewski (Yorkville, Ill./Downers Grove North H.S.), Jessie Musgrove (Chatham, Ill./Glenwood H.S.) and Stephanie Ramsey (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.) will start and make significant contributions in the lineup for the Braves.
"We had a tremendous fall offensively," Foster said. "Everybody is buying into what we're trying to do and our power numbers were way up."
The Braves open the season with four tournaments in consecutive weekends. The Braves play Big Ten Conference foe Wisconsin in the opener of the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic on Feb. 15.
"This is easily the toughest schedule we have played in my three years here and is arguably one of the toughest schedules in school history," Foster said. "Opening in Las Vegas is going to be a big challenge, but I think it's going to prepare us well for the conference race."
Bradley plays 14 games against teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament last season, with nine of Bradley's 16 home games slated against teams that advanced to the postseason.
BU opens the Missouri Valley Conference schedule with a three-game series at Wichita State starting March 15. Bradley opens their home schedule March 21, kicking off a three-game series with preseason Valley favorite and 2007 NCAA participant Creighton.
