PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley softball head coach Amy Hayes and her team began preparations for the 2011 season, holding the team's first practice of the spring semester last Friday at the Avanti's Dome. The Braves will open the season Feb. 11-13 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
Hayes welcomes five freshmen and one transfer to a team which returns 10 letterwinners, including three pitchers from last spring. Highlighting the group of returning players are seniors Brittany Fairbairn (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East/Kankakee) and Kate Singler (Witt, Ill./Nokomis/Heartland C.C.).
Fairbairn hit .288 with 15 runs scored and 18 RBI before having her junior season cut short due to injury and is expected to reclaim her spot at the top of the BU lineup. She started all 41 games she appeared in and will likely return to center field this spring.
Singler led Bradley in doubles (6), home runs (4) and RBI (25), while splitting time between catcher and designated player. She was a .255 hitter, helping the Braves to their highest batting average since 2006 and the most runs scored in a season since the 2005 campaign.
Also returning to help bolster the lineup in 2011 is junior Jackie Roth (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg). Roth emerged as one of the top defensive third baseman in the Missouri Valley Conference last season and will once again hold down the hot corner for Bradley this spring. As a sophomore she hit .275 with 13 runs and 14 RBI, while boasting a .966 fielding percentage.
Junior Julie Sherman (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) started 38 games, seeing the bulk of her action in the outfield in 2010 and is expected to provide the Braves with an experienced bat in the lineup. Seniors Denise Jilka (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) and Katelyn Kegley (Pekin, Ill./Pekin), along with junior Alison Kresl (Kankakee, Ill./Bishop McNamara) and redshirt sophomore Heather Terry (Jones, Okla./Jones) will also vie for time.
Bradley returns three pitchers from last year's team in addition to welcoming two freshmen hurlers. Senior Katie Dennis (Gilbert, Ariz./Mesquite) is the most experienced pitcher on the roster and ranked second on the team last year in wins, ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts. Sophomore Mackenzie Camp (Mapleton, Ill./Limestone) also returns after making more than 20 appearances as freshmen last year and will see more time in the circle this season.
Joining the returning cast will be freshmen shortstop/utility Alex Chandler (Needles, Calif./Needles), outfielder Mariah Cole (Springfield, Ill./Chatham Glenwood), pitcher/outfielder Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley), infield/utility player Brianne Joseph (Post Falls, Idaho/Post Falls) and catcher/utility player KayCee Miller (Omaha, Neb./Papillion-La Vista) along with Illinois Central College transfer Lindsay Hufeld (Mapleton, Ill./Limestone/Illinois Central College). Chandler, Lynch-Crumrine and Joseph each helped their high schools to state championships last year, while Cole and Miller each earned all-state honors. Hufeld was an all-region pitcher for ICC last spring.
The 56-game schedule includes 12 games against teams which advanced to the 2010 NCAA Tournament and combined for an 11-14 postseason record. The slate features matchups with former national champions Texas A&M (1983 & 1987) and two games against 1998 national champion Fresno State. Bradley will play two games against PAC-10 and Big Ten opponents in addition to three contests against teams from the Big 12 Conference. Highlighting the 2011 schedule are the first trips in program history to the states of Arizona and Texas along with BU's first trip to California since the 2001 season.
The season kicks off Feb. 11 against NCAA Tournament qualifier Texas Tech at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Braves will also face NCAA Tournament qualifier Texas A&M, in addition to games against Northwestern, Cal Poly and Oregon State during the season-opening tournament.
A trip to Troy, Ala., (Feb. 18-20) for the Troy Classic, which features the first of three games against Troy, falls before the UTEP Invitational (Feb. 25-27) in El Paso, Texas. The UTEP Invite includes a pair of games against tournament host UTEP, along with matchups with Texas State, North Dakota and New Mexico State.
Bradley returns to Las Vegas for the first time since 2008 for the Eller Media Stadium Classic (March 4-6), where the Braves will face Kansas, San Jose State, San Diego, Troy and host UNLV.
The Braves head to California for the first time since 2001 for spring break. Bradley will face Fresno State and Pac-10 opponent California, which won the Columbus Regional in last year's NCAA Tournament, during the Bayer Cropscience Classic in Fresno, Calif. (March 11-13). Following the tournament, BU will play a single game against Fresno State on March 15 before returning home to open Missouri Valley Conference play March 19 & 20 at I-74 rival Illinois State.
Bradley's home opener is scheduled for Wednesday, March 23 against Illinois-Chicago (3 p.m.) and the Braves first home conference series is the following weekend (March 26 & 27) against Drake. BU follows four consecutive road games against NCAA Tournament teams (Illinois & Creighton) with the final home non-conference game of the year April 6 against Western Illinois.
The Braves open a season-long, seven-game homestand April 16 and 17 with a three-game weekend series against Missouri State. Northern Iowa visits Laura Bradley Park April 20 for a single game and the homestand concludes April 22 & 23 with a three-game set against Indiana State.
Bradley wraps up the 2011 regular season at home for the fourth consecutive year and sixth time in the last seven years when the Braves host Wichita State (May 7 & 8). The State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will be held May 12-14 in Springfield, Mo., with the top eight teams advancing to the single-elimination event.
