Bradley Baseball Notebook ? April 14, 2008
Overall Record: 16-15
MVC Record: 7-5
Last Week's Results
April 9 at Saint Louis L 2-3
April 11 *at Southern Illinois W 7-3 (10 inn.)
April 12 *at Southern Illinois W 4-3
April 13 *at Southern Illinois W 11-6
This Week's Schedule
Tuesday at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (DH) 2 p.m. Milwaukee, Wis.
Friday *MISSOURI STATE 6 p.m. O'Brien Field
Saturday *MISSOURI STATE 2 p.m. O'Brien Field
Sunday *MISSOURI STATE 1 p.m. O'Brien Field
Milwaukee DH Tuesday
? Bradley faces just one non-conference date this week, a Tuesday doubleheader at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
? The Braves own a 13-10 lead in the all-time series against Milwaukee, but the Panthers have won seven of the last nine meetings.
? Most recently, Milwaukee swept a doubleheader May 10, 2006 at O'Brien Field, 6-1 and 5-4.
? The Braves did win in their last trip to Milwaukee, however, grabbing a 16-6 decision in a single game April 20, 2004.
Bears Pay Weekend Visit
? Bradley will play its final Missouri Valley Conference series of the month this weekend when the Braves host Missouri State in a three-game set at O'Brien Field.
? Missouri State owns a 40-26 lead in the all-time series, including seven wins in the last 10 meetings.
? Bradley snapped a five-game losing streak against MSU with a 9-8 victory in last year's series finale, then made it two wins in a row by eliminating the host Bears, 8-3, in the third round of the 2007 State Farm MVC Tournament.
Jensen Sets Saves Record
? By earning the save in each of the final two games of the weekend sweep at Southern Illinois, Bradley junior closer Kori Jensen already has set the school single-season record with six saves this year.
? The previous record of five was originally set by former Brave Michael Christl in 2005 and matched by current sophomore Brad Altbach last season.
? In 13 outings this year, Jensen is 3-0 with six saves.
? He has been particularly efficient in Valley play, posting a 2-0 record with four saves in seven MVC appearances.
Luttrell, Brewer Set the Pace
? Amazingly, Bradley has been outscored by 24 runs during its first 12 Valley games.
? Despite the team's overall lack of run production, Dan Brewer and Colby Luttrell have been run-producing machines.
? Brewer and Luttrell are tied for The Valley lead by each accounting for 27 runs (combination of runs scored and runs batted in, minus home runs) in the first 12 league games.
? In his 12 Valley games, Brewer is hitting .356 with 19 runs scored, nine RBI's and one homer, while Luttrell is hitting .346 with 10 runs, 19 RBI's and two homers.
Luttrell's Big Weekend
? Junior rightfielder Colby Luttrell enjoyed a huge weekend at the plate, leading Bradley's charge to the weekend sweep at Southern Illinois.
? Luttrell was 7-for-15 (.467) with two doubles, a homer and 10 runs batted in against the Salukis.
? His 3-run homer in the 10th inning Friday sparked Bradley's 7-3 victory and he capped off the weekend by driving in a career-best six runs in Sunday's 11-6 win.
? Luttrell is the team's second-leading hitter with a .342 batting average and his team-leading 28 runs batted in are just one off his previous best season total, set last last year in 53 games.
Altbach Returns to Form
? Sophomore right-hander Brad Altbach returned to his 2007 form, when he was named The Valley's Freshman of the Year, by picking up a pair of wins in the weekend sweep at Southern Illinois.
? Altbach entered Friday's game in the eighth inning with Bradley clinging to a 3-2 lead and with runners at first and second with two outs.
? He got out of the jam by getting a ground out, and although he surrendered the tying run in the ninth, he also worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation by getting an inning-ending double play, then pitched a scoreless 10th to nail down Bradley's 7-3 win.
? Altbach returned to the mound Sunday by relieving Bradley starter Chris Wright to open the fourth inning and allowed one run in 3.1 innings of relief, improving to 3-4 on the year.
? Altbach's efforts at Southern Illinois marked the third time in his career he has produced a combination of multiple wins or saves in a Valley series.
? He earned a win and a save last April against Illinois State and a pair of saves last May at Indiana State.
Ahead of 2007 Pace
? Bradley enjoyed one of its best seasons in recent history by posting a 32-21 overall record and finishing tied for third in The Valley race with a 13-11 league record.
? Last year's Braves, however, started 2-7 in The Valley race and were 4-8 after their first four league weekends.
? After the weekend sweep at Southern Illinois pushed the Braves over .500 for the first time since March 2 (3-2), Bradley will enter the second half of the league schedule three games ahead of last year's MVC pace.
2007 MVC Standings
Thru April 13 MVC Overall
Team W-L Pct. GB W-L Pct.
UNI 8-1 .889 --- 20-10 .667
#5 Wichita State 7-2 .778 1.0 27-5 .844
Missouri State 8-4 .667 1.5 22-11 .667
Creighton 7-5 .583 2.5 23-10 .697
Bradley 7-5 .583 2.5 16-15 .516
Indiana State 4-5 .444 4.0 10-20 .333
Southern Illinois 3-6 .333 5.0 18-15 .545
Illinois State 3-9 .250 6.5 13-17 .433
Evansville 1-11 .083 9.5 6-27 .182
Non-Conference Record 107-82 .566
