Vitale was third on the team with a .252 batting average last season and ranked second on the team with six home runs, 21 RBI and a .441 slugging percentage.  She hit .322 with runners on base as a junior and was second on the team with six two-out RBI.  Vitale ended the season on a high note, driving in 10 runs in the final 11 games and hit a solo home run in the Braves' 2-0 victory against Creighton in the championship game of the MVC Tournament to help secure BU's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. 

BU's starting catcher in 27 games last season, she also drove in Bradley's only run in the NCAA Tournament game against Missouri and enters her final season as the Braves active career leader with 13 home runs.  Vitale needs just four homers to break the BU career home run mark.

Bradley returns 15 of 20 letterwinners, including two of the top three hitters and five of the top seven offensive performers from last year's NCAA Tournament team.  The roster features two returning pitchers and six starters from a squad which finished sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 12-12 mark. 

The Braves received 33 points in the preseason poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, finishing three points behind seventh-place Missouri State (36 points) and 12 points ahead of ninth-place Indiana State (21 points).  Creighton is the preseason favorite to win the Valley race, receiving eight of 10 first-place votes. 

Bradley is scheduled to open the season at the 24th annual Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, La. (Feb. 12-14)  The Braves face Syracuse at 11 a.m. on Feb. 12 to open the season and will also face Bryant and tournament-host Louisiana-Lafayette during the opening weekend of play.  BU's home opener is scheduled for March 9 against Illinois at 7 p.m. at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria.