Last Time Out
Bradley wrapped up the team's first trip to the state of California since 2001 with a 3-2 loss to Fresno State in Fresno, Calif. The Braves went 2-3 over the weekend at the Bayer CropScience Classic in Fresno, Calif., during the weekend, picking up a pair of victories against Idaho State and played a single game against Fresno State Thursday. BU trailed 3-0 heading into the seventh inning, before junior Jackie Roth hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh and Bradley had the tying run on second base before the Bulldogs were able to close out the win.
Illinois State Series
Illinois State swept the regular-season series from BU last season in Peoria and the Redbirds hold a 52-16 lead in the all-time series. Bradley has not played at Illinois State since the 2007 season and the squads have played a total of seven games at ISU since the start of the 2001 season when the MVC went to a 27-game schedule.
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 48-80 record (.375) 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 261-256 (.505) career coaching record and has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament four times.
Game On
Bradley had played a league-leading 25 games heading into Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference opener at Illinois State. The 25 regular-season non-conference games are the most for BU since the 2006 team played 25 non-league contests. The Braves have four non-conference games remaining on the schedule this season, with the next game slated for Wednesday, March 23 against Illinois-Chicago in the squad's home opener. BU is also slated to play at Illinois (March 30) and at Western Illinois (May 3), in addition to hosting the Leathernecks on April 6 at the EastSide Centre. Bradley has not played more than 25 non-conference contests in the regular season since playing 32 non-Valley games in 2004.
Conference Openers
Bradley is looking to end a nine-game losing skid in Missouri Valley Conference opening games when the Braves open league play with a three-game series at Illinois State. The Braves are 8-19 all-time in league openers with the last win coming in 2001 when BU topped Wichita State 7-3 at home to open the league slate. Bradley is opening the conference schedule on the road for the first time since 2008.
All-Tournament Honors
Junior Alison Kresl earned all-tournament honors at last week's Bayer CropScience Classic in Fresno, Calif., hitting a team-best .273. Kresl started three of the five games she appeared in, going 3-for-11 at the plate with three doubles and team-best four RBI during tournament action.
Settling Down
Junior transfer Lindsay Hufeld has emerged as one of Bradley's top pitchers, throwing three complete games in her last four starts while striking out 17 batters and owning a 2.92 ERA in 24 innings of work over her last six appearances. Hufeld had a tough start to the season, striking out 16 batters in 33.2 innings, while posting a 6.24 ERA in her first nine appearances.
Legging Them Out
Senior Brittany Fairbairn ripped her team-best third triple of the season over the weekend, matching her team-leading total from 2010 and Bradley has already legged out eight triples as the Braves near the halfway point of the season. BU's eight triples this season are already the most since Bradley had 11 three-baggers in 2007. The Braves have 41 extra-base hits through 24 games this season, nearly matching the season total of 46 from last season's 49 games.
Leading Off
Senior Brittany Fairbairn has recovered from a slow start after moving to leadoff spot in the lineup. Fairbairn opened the season 2-for-15 at the plate hitting primarily in the #3 spot in the lineup in the early going. In the leadoff spot, Fairbairn is hitting .361 (22-for-61) with four doubles, three triples, one home run, 13 runs scored and 10 RBI. She has reached base 44 percent of the time when leading off an inning and is hitting .304 with the bases empty.
Singler's Hit Streak Ends At 10 Games
Senior Kate Singler drove in Bradley's run against UNLV on Feb. 7, but had a career-best 10-game hit streak end with an 0-for-3 effort against the Rebels. The 10-game hit streak was the longest by a Bradley player since Trish Kowalewski hit safely in 11 consecutive games in 2005. during her 10-game streak, Singler hit .394 with three doubles, two homers, six runs scored and eight RBI. She is currently tied for third in the MVC with 17 RBI and is Bradley's active career leader in home runs (7) and RBI (42).
Powering Up
Senior Brittany Fairbairn put on an offensive showcase in Bradley's setback against San Diego, going 3-for-3 with her first career home run and a pair of doubles. Fairbairn who belted her first career homer to lead off the bottom of the first inning, entered the game with four extra base hits on the season; before her power burst against the Toreros. Last season, Fairbairn finished with four doubles and three triples in 125 at bats. This season she has five doubles, three triples and a home run. She leads the team in walks (9) and has scored a team-best 15 runs.
Patience At The Plate
In addition to raising her batting average more than 30 points to .312, junior Brittany Fairbairn has displayed a great deal of patience at the plate in her final season. Fairbairn leads the team with nine base on balls through 25 games and owns a .386 on base percentage. Her nine walks this season are already two more than she had the entire 2010 season and she is the only Braves with more than five base on balls this year.
Increased Output
Junior Julie Sherman might be one of the biggest surprises in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, ranking among the league leaders with a .409 batting average on the year. Sherman entered the year with a career .176 batting average, but has already surpassed her career-best season totals of 18 hits and 12 runs from 2010 with 27 hits and 14 runs through the first 25 games of the season. Sherman is hitting .548 with runners on base and boasts a .500 batting average with runners in scoring position.
Braves Claim Tournament Title
Bradley was one of three teams to go 3-1 at the Troy Classic in Troy, Ala., and the Braves were declared champs of the tournament due to the run differential tie-breaker. BU opened play with a 10-2 win against Samford for the first win of the season, before falling in extra innings to Troy by the score of 8-7. Bradley rallied for a 4-1 victory against Central Arkansas later that day and capped things off with a 5-3 win against North Florida. Junior Julie Sherman hit .545 in three games, scoring three runs and driving in one to earn all-tournament honors. Senior Kate Singler joined Sherman on the all-tournament team, scoring four runs and driving in another four while hitting .417 in all four games.
First Win
Sophomore pitcher Mackenzie Camp picked up her first career victory in the circle for the Braves, tossing a complete game in a 10-2 win against Samford. Camp went 0-7 in 24 career appearances before picking up her first career win. She struck out three and walked three while scattering three hits over five innings of work. Camp leads the team in victories and is 3-5 with a team-best 3.81 ERA in 13 appearances this season.
Putting It In Neutral
Bradley is now 21-25 (.457) when playing at a neutral site under head coach Amy Hayes and the Braves are now a combined 30-28 (.517) since the start of the 2007 campaign when playing at a neutral site.
Moving Up The Ranks
Bradley head coach Amy Hayes moved into sixth on Bradley's career wins list with a pair of win last weekend at the Eller Media Stadium Classic. Hayes passed Venus Taylor on the wins chart and needs 16 victories to pass Buddy Foster for fifth place. Bradley's 4-1 win against Central Arkansas was Hayes' 500th game as a collegiate head coach.
Sitting Them Down
Senior pitcher Katie Dennis recorded her 100th career strikeout recently, fanning two batters in a four-inning relief stint against North Florida. Dennis earned the victory against the Ospreys, for her first win of the year. She is Bradley's active career leader in every statistical pitching category and needs 13 appearances to break into Bradley's career top 10.
A Tale Of Three Cities
Bradley played the third and final of three games scheduled against Troy when the two teams faced off last week in Fresno, Calif., Friday. The Trojans edged the Braves 2-0 in Fresno, Calif., to win all three meetings this season. Troy also posted wins against BU in Troy, Ala., and Las Vegas, Nev. Prior to this season, the last time Bradley faced Troy was during the 1997 season, when the Braves played three games against the Trojans. The team's squared off in BU's 1997 season opener in Georgia and played twice in Florida as part of the Rebel Spring Games.
Going Yard
After missing the bulk of the 2010 season due to injury, senior Denise Jilka started three of four games she appeared in during the opening weekend and belted her first home run since her freshman season for Bradley's only run in a 3-1 loss to #19 Texas A&M on Feb. 13. Jilka hit her first career home run at Wichita State on March 15, 2008 and she matched her RBI output for the entire 2010 season with the solo homer against the Aggies.
Driving Them In
Seniors Kate Singler and Brittany Fairbairn led Bradley in RBI last year in their first year on The Hilltop and the duo is once again leading the team in runs batted in through five weeks of the season. Singler, who drove in a team-leading 25 runs in 2010, is the active career leader on the team with 42 RBI. Fairbairn was second on the team with 18 RBI as a junior before having her season cut short and has 31 career RBI. Singler has driven in three runs in a game three times this season and six times in her career. She leads the squad with 17 RBI through 25 games, while Fairbairn has knocked in 13 runs this spring.
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 hitters, senior Kate Singler also had a knack for getting on base; boasting a .351 career on base percentage. Singler was hit by a pitch seven times last spring, which ranks as the second highest season total in school history. Despite playing only a little over one season on The Hilltop, Singler is already tied for third in school history with eight career hit by pitches. The school career record is 16 held by Christine Cooney.
Schedule Notes
Bradley will make the program's first-ever trips to the states of Arizona, Alabama 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 were 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, and select road contests 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.
Moving Around The Infield
Junior Jackie Roth was one of the top defensive third baseman in the Missouri Valley Conference, but has moved behind the plate this season, while seniors Kate Singler (third base) and Denise Jilka (first base) have moved to the corner infield positions. Roth, who hit .275 last season, ranked third on the squad in both walks and stolen bases last year. She has also proven to be one of the best bunters on the team, laying down 23 sacrifice bunts in her two-plus seasons on The Hilltop. Roth needs just two sacrifice hits to move into sixth in school history in the category.
Up Next
Bradley opens a four-game homestand Wednesday, March 23 with a single game against Illinois-Chicago in BU's home opener at Laura Bradley Park. The Braves close out the homestand with a three-game series against Drake (March 26 & 27). Bradley holds a 17-16 lead in the series with UIC after sweeping a doubleheader from the Flames on March 29, 2007 in the last meeting between the two in-state foes. Drake holds a 42-26-1 lead in the all-time series after taking two of three games in the series last year in Des Moines, Iowa.
