Bradley Baseball Weekly Notebook
March 15, 2009
Overall Record: 4-7
MVC Record: 0-0
Last Week's Results
March 14 vs. Bowling Green (10) L 10-11 Winter Haven, Fla.
March 15 vs. Central Michigan W 5-1
This Week's Schedule
Monday vs. Jacksonville State 11:30 a.m. Winter Haven, Fla.
Wednesday vs. Eastern Illinois 8:30 a.m. Winter Haven, Fla.
vs. Hartford 12:00 p.m. Winter Haven, Fla.
Friday *at Missouri State 6:30 p.m. Springfield, Mo.
Saturday *at Missouri State 2:00 p.m. Springfield, Mo.
Sunday *at Missouri State 1:00 p.m. Springfield, Mo.
Three Games in Florida
? Bradley faces its busiest week of the season, beginning with three more games in Winter Haven, Fla., Monday and Tuesday.
? Two of Bradley's Florida games will come against first-time opponents: Jacksonville State Monday and Hartford in Wednesday's second game.
? The Braves will face a familiar foe in Wednesday's first game, in-state rival Eastern Illinois.
In-State Dominance
? Although Eastern Illinois owns a 42-34 lead in the all-time series against Bradley, the Braves have been dominant against all of their in-state rivals of late.
? Since the start of the 2005 season, Bradley boasts a 40-15 (.727) combined record against all of its opponents from the state of Illinois, including a 23-5 (.821) mark since the start of the 2007 campaign.
Valley Season Starts Friday
? Bradley will open Missouri Valley Conference play on the road with a three-game weekend series at league preseason favorite Missouri State.
? After facing the preseason favorites this weekend, Bradley will host perennial league champion Wichita State next weekend at O'Brien Field.
Fitzgerald Ties Doubles Record
? Senior shortstop Tommy Fitzgerald tied the single-game school record with three doubles in Sunday's 5-1 victory against Central Michigan.
? Fitzgerald, who drove in a career-best three runs againt the Chippewas, became the 16th Brave to leg out three doubles in a game.
? The most recent Bradley player with three doubles was current Florida Marlins farmhand Ryan Curry, who had three doubles at Tennessee Tech March 11, 2007.
Escue RBI Machine
? Senior first baseman Grant Escue drilled his third home run of the season, a two-run shot, Saturday versus Bowling Green and continues to lead the Braves in runs batted in.
? Escue, who is batting .333 with a .563 slugging percentage, has 13 RBI's in 11 games, already 37 percent of his season total of 35 RBI's last season.
Bats Warm Up With Temperature
? After playing the first three weekends in chilly weather, Bradley took a cold .244 batting average with it to Florida.
? In their first two games in the Sunshine State, the Braves are hitting .347 (25-72).
Freshmen Lefties Stand Out
? Bradley's two freshmen pitchers have stood out through the first two games of the Spring Break trip to Florida.
? Although he wound up suffering a tough-luck loss in relief, Joe Bircher allowed only two runs, one earned, in 6.2 innings Saturday against Bowling Green.
? Mike Derby also turned in a solid relief effort Sunday, earning his first career win by tossing 4.2 hitless and scoreless innings against Central Michigan.
Fritz Takes His Lumps
? Junior second baseman Matt Fritz has collected his share of bruises in his two seasons with the Braves.
? Fritz was hit by 16 pitches last season for the second-best single-season total in program history.
? Although hitting just .190 through the first 11 games this year, Fritz has been plunked six times, raising his on-base percentage to .333.
? Now hit by 22 pitches in 57 games as a Brave, Fritz already has climbed into third place on Bradley's career list, just 11 shy of Brad Canada's school record 33 hit-by-pitches.
