For Openers
Bradley will make its first-ever trip to Arizona to open the 2011 season, taking part in Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Three of the Braves' first five opponents are receiving votes in the preseason national polls, while two-time national champion Texas A&M is ranked 19th in the preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball top 25.
Against The Field
The Braves will see four teams for the first time during the season-opening Kajikawa Classic, facing Texas Tech, Cal Poly, Oregon State and #19 Texas A&M for the first time. Their is one familiar foe during the opening weekend of play, as Bradley will square off in-state foe Northwestern in the second game of the day on Friday. BU is 1-8 all-time against Northwestern, with the lone victory coming in the last meeting with the Wildcats. The Braves posted a 4-0 victory against then fifth-ranked Northwestern in March 2008 in a tournament in Carbondale, Ill., for Bradley's first-ever victory against a ranked team. BU is 1-0 all-time against teams from the Pac-10, but is winless is six previous games against teams from the Big West. Bradley is 8-25 against Big 10 teams and 9-34 vs squads from the Big 12.
Season Openers
Bradley owns a five-game win streak in season openers, dating back to a 2-0 loss to Purdue at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn., to open the 2005 season. Overall, the Braves are 16-16 in season opening games, including a 10-10 record when playing the season opener at neutral site.
Head Coach
A former assistant coach at Bradley (1997), Amy Hayes returned to The Hilltop in July 2008 to take over the head coaching reigns of the Braves after a three-year run as head coach at Portland State. Now in her third season, Hayes has led the Braves to a 41-62 record (.398) mark in her time as head coach. In addition, to posting their best conference finish since the 1995 squad finished fifth in the MVC with a 10-10 league record, she led the Braves to their first MVC Tournament title and first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history in 2009. In her 10th year as a collegiate head coach, Hayes was head coach at Portland State for three years where she led the Vikings to a 92-81 (.532) record and the school's first-ever conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. She was head coach at Boston University from 2001-04 and guided the Terriers to a 121-95 (.560) mark, three America East Conference regular-season titles, two conference tournament titles and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Hayes has a career record of 254-238 (.516) career coaching record and has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament four times.
What's Back
Bradley returned nine of 19 letterwinners, including four starting position players from last year's team which finished 15-34 overall and was 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 5-21 league record. The Braves roster also features two of four pitchers and welcomes five freshmen and one junior college transfer. The top returning hitter in the lineup is senior Brittany Fairbairn who heat leadoff part of the year in her first season and ranked fourth on the team with a .288 batting average in addition to ranking second with 18 RBI. Fellow senior Kate Singler drove in a team-best 25 runs and paced the squad with six doubles and four home runs. Senior pitcher Katie Dennis is the top hurler for the Braves with 32 starts in 51 career appearances to her credit.
Welcome To The Squad
Bradley welcomed one of its largest recruiting classes in recent years to the 2011 squad, as five freshmen and one junior college transfer will make their debuts with the Braves. Pitcher/outfielder Madeline Lynch-Crumrine is her high schools career hits leader and posted a 50-8-2 record in the circle in addition to helping her high school to a state championship. Infield/utility player Brianne Joseph also helper her team to an Idaho state title, while Needles, Calif., native Alex Chandler was the Nevada Class 2A Player of the Year after helping her team to a state championship. Springfield, Ill., native Mariah Cole was a second-team all-state selection and KayCee Miller of Omaha, Neb., also earned second-team all-state honors. Illinois Central College transfer Lindsay Hufeld was an all-region selection at ICC last spring and helped the Cougars to a regional championship game appearance.
Bean Ball
In addition to ranking as the team's top power hitter in her first year on the team, senior Kate Singler also had a knack for getting on base as she ranked second on the squad with a .365 on base percentage. Singler was hit by a pitch seven times in 2010, which ranks as the second highest season total in school history. Despite only one season on The Hilltop, Singler is already tied for fourth with seven hit by pitches. The school career record is 16 held by Christine Cooney.
Off And Running
Bradley finished the 2010 season with the most stolen bases in a decade, swiping 48 bases last spring. The 48 steals were the most since finishing with a Missouri Valley Conference record 99 steals in 2000. BU's returning letterwinners were 18 for 23 on stolen base attempts last spring.
Schedule Notes
Bradley will make the program's first-ever trips to the states of Arizona and Texas in 2011, along with the team's first venture to the state of California since the 2001 season. The Braves are slated to play 12 games against teams which advanced to the NCAA Tournament and combined for an 11-14 postseason record. BU will play three games against previous national championship (one against Texas A&M & two against Fresno State). Three non-conference opponents are ranked in the preseason top 25, while another four non-conference foes are receiving votes in the national polls. In a strange twist, Bradley will play three games against Troy in three different cities.
Braves Picked 10th In Preseason Valley Poll
Bradley was picked to finish 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, voted on by the league coaches after a 10th-place finish in 2010. The Braves finish three points behind Indiana State for ninth. Illinois State and Southern Illinois finished in a tie for first with Illinois State receiving five of the 10 first-place votes and SIU garnering four first-place nods.
On The Internet
Fans can follow live stats of all Bradley home games on the official Bradley Athletics website (www.BradleyBraves.com). In addition all home contests will feature a free live audio steam also available at www.BradleyBraves.com and home games will also include a subscription based video stream.
Scoring Early Is Key
Seven of Bradley's 15 victories in 2010 came when the Braves scored in the first inning and BU was 12-10 last spring when they were the first team to score. In fact, Bradley won their first 11 games of the 2010 season when leading after five innings and finished the year 11-1 when holding the lead heading into the sixth. The Braves scored 81 of the team's 144 runs in the first three innings compared to a 40 runs in the final three frames.
Putting It In Neutral
Bradley finished the 2010 season with an 8-7 record in neutral site games and enters the 2011 campaign with a 14-12 mark at neutral sites over the last two seasons. In fact, the Braves own a combined 23-15 (.605) record when playing at a neutral site since the start of the 2007 season.
Holding Down The Hot Corner
Junior Jackie Roth has emerged as one of the top defensive third baseman in the Missouri Valley Conference and also proved to be the team's most improved hitter in 2010. Roth, who ranked second on the team with a .966 fielding percentage despite making all 47 of her starts at the hot corner, hit 90 points better during her sophomore season. She finished the year with a .275 batting average and ranked third on the squad in both walks and stolen bases. Roth also proved to be one of the team's top bunters, laying down nine sacrifice bunts and needs just four sacrifice hits to break into Bradley's career top 10.
Up Next
Following The Braves first trip to the state of Arizona in program history, BU makes the first trip to the state of Alabama for a five-team tournament including Samford, Central Arkansas, North Florida and tournament-host Troy in Troy, Ala. Bradley opens tournament play Friday, Feb. 18 against Samford, before taking on Troy and Central Arkansas on Saturday. BU wraps up tourney play Sunday against North Florida. The game against Troy is the first of three games in three different cities against Troy.
