Bradley Baseball Weekly Notebook
March 14, 2011
Overall Record: 9-4
Last Week's Results - All at RussMatt Baseball 2011 Central Florida Invitational
March 11 vs. Toledo W 7-4 (10 inn.)
March 12 vs. Air Force W 6-0
March 13 vs. Massachusetts W 3-2
This Week's Schedule -- All at RussMatt Baseball 2011 Central Florida Invitational
Monday vs. Bucknell, 10 a.m. (CST)
Wednesday vs. Jacksonville State, 1:30 p.m.
Thursday vs. North Dakota State, 10 a.m.
Friday vs. Akron, 9 a.m.
Saturday vs. Butler, 9 a.m.
Pitcher-of-the-Week Nominee
John Nasshan, Bradley, So., RHP, Niles, Ill., West H.S.
The 6-foot-6 sophomore right-hander made his first career complete game a shutout, blanking Air Force on five singles in Saturday's 6-0 victory at the RussMatt Baseball 2011 Central Illinois Invitational ... Nasshan walked one and struck out five and did not allow a runner past first base until consecutive 1-out singles in the ninth inning put runners at the corners ... He responded by inducing a game-ending double play.
Player-of-the-Week Nominee
Jason Leblebijian, Bradley, So., SS, Arlington Heights, Ill., Prospect H.S.
Bradley's leading hitter, Leblebijian raised his season average to .404 by going 6-for-11 in Bradley's three wins last week ... The sophomore shortstop had two hits in each of Bradley's three games and played flawless defense, handling all nine chances ... Following a 9th-inning leadoff single, he scored the tying to force extra innings in Friday's 7-4 win against Toledo ... He also singled and scored the game's first run, then started the game-ending double play to preserve the shutout in Saturday's 6-0 win against Air Force ... He also had base hits in both of Bradley's run-scoring innings Sunday versus Massachusetts, while starting another inning-ending double play in the only inning the Minutemen produced multiple base runners.
RPI Leaders
As Bradley prepares for a 5-game week at the RussMatt Baseball 2011 Central Florida Invitational, the Braves (9-4) own the best RPI in The Valley by 30 spots ... Bradley begins the week ranked No. 88 in the RPI produced by WarrenNolan.com, 30 places ahead of Wichita State.
Starting Pitchers Rule
Challenged by a busy stretch that will see the Braves play eight games in nine days at the RussMatt Baseball 2011 Central Florida Invitational, Bradley got exactly the kind of performance it needed from its starting pitchers in the event's first three games ... The trio of Joe Bircher (6.2 innings), John Nasshan (9.0) and Jacob Booden (7.0) ate up 22.2 of the weekend's 28.0 innings with stellar results ... Highlighted by Nasshan's Saturday shutout, the trio combined for a 2-0 record with a 1.59 earned run average and a .192 batting average ... Through the season's first 13 games, the trio has combined for a 6-2 record with a 2.39 ERA and a .223 opponent batting average.
And Ziegler Closes
Junior right-hander Justin Ziegler closed two of Bradley's three games over the weekend to pick up his fourth and fifth saves of the season ... Through just 13 overall games, Ziegler already has topped Bradley's entire 2010 season saves total (4) and has equaled the second-best individual single-season saves total in program history ... Kori Jensen set the school single-season record with seven saves during the 2008 season.
Playing Small Ball
The Braves have excelled at small-ball during their 9-4 start ... Through 13 games, Bradley has swiped 20 bases in 32 attempts and the Braves have executed 16 sacrifice bunts ... By comparison, Bradley's opposition has just five sacrifice bunts and have converted only 5-of-12 stolen base attempts.
Flashing the Leather
Although the Braves have yet to field a ground ball on a baseball diamond in Peoria this season (practice or game), Bradley has opened the season with a .964 fielding percentage in the first 13 games ... During the current 5-game winning streak, Bradley boasts a .985 fielding percentage, having made only three errors in the last five wins.
