Bradley Baseball Weekly Notebook
March 20, 2011
Overall Record: 12-6
Last Week's Results - All at RussMatt Baseball 2011 Central Florida Invitational
March 14 vs. Bucknell L 1-4
March 16 vs. Jacksonville State L 2-5
March 17 vs. North Dakota State W 6-5
March 18 vs. Akron W 7-5
March 19 vs. Butler W 8-5
This Week's Schedule
Wednesday at SIU Edwardsville 6 p.m. CST
Friday PURDUE 5 p.m.
Saturday PURDUE 1 p. m.
Sunday at Purdue 1 p.m.
Pitcher-of-the-Week Nominee
Jacob Booden, Bradley, Jr., RHP, Vernon Hills, Ill., Libertyville H.S.
The 6-foot-9 junior right-hander improved to 3-0 by allowing two unearned runs on three hits in 6.0 innings, leading the Braves to an eventual 7-5 win versus Akron Friday at the RussMatt Baseball Central Florida Invitational ... Booden, who has not allowed an extra-base hit in any of his last four starts, struck out a season-best eight hitters while lowering his earned run average to 0.68.
Player-of-the-Week Nominee
Brad Kimball, Bradley, Jr, DH, Naperville, Ill., Neuqua Valley H.S.
Kimball hit .700 (7-for-10) with three doubles in four games last week ... Kimball hit safely in all four games he played last week, including a pinch-hit double Monday versus Bucknell and a walk-off single in the ninth inning of Thursday's 6-5 win versus North Dakota State after entering the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh ... In his two starts, Kimball was 2-for-3 with a double and run scored Wednesday versus Jacksonville State and 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and a run scored in Saturday's 8-5 win against Butler.
Not So Neutral
By going 6-2 during the RussMatt Baseball 2011 Central Florida Invitational, Bradley has completed the neutral-site portion of its regular-season schedule with a 10-2 record ... The 10 neutral-site wins this season equal Bradley's combined total of the previous four seasons (10-22) and are the most in a single-season by the Braves since 1996 (12-4).
Road Warriors
Bradley, which will play at SIU Edwardsville in its next game Wednesday before hosting Purdue Friday and Saturday at O'Brien Field, is the only Missouri Valley Conference team that has not yet played a home game ... The 19 consecutive games away from home matches (2008) the most before the season's first home game since 1997, when the Braves played their first 20 games away from home ... Both the 1997 and 2008 teams finished with 26-28 records after opening 7-13 in 1997 and 9-10 in 2008.
Bradley's Hot Start
Despite their travels, which have taken them to Tennessee twice, Arkansas and Florida, the Braves are 12-6 and begin the week with their best 18-game record since 2005 (14-4) ... Bradley has not finished with a winning record without winning at least two-thirds of its first 18 games since the 1995 squad started 9-9 on the way to a final 30-27 record ... Since the Braves began playing expanded schedules (more than 30 games) in 1974, Bradley has finished with a winning record in each of the 11 previous years it has won at least 12 of the first 18 games:
Year 1st 18 Final
2005 14-4 28-22
2004 12-6 29-26-1
1996 13-5 40-22
1993 15-3 40-16
1989 15-3 35-22
1988 12-6 34-25
1987 12-6 41-21
1986 12-6 35-26
1985 12-6 34-24
1984 13-5 30-20
1983 14-3-1 19-17-2
Tauchman's Streak
Sophomore left fielder Mike Tauchman is batting .500 (17-34) during his career-best 10-game hitting streak ... Tauchman also has drawn 11 walks in his last 10 games, helping him to a .630 on-base percentage during the hitting streak ... Although he missed his first game of the season Saturday due to a hamstring injury, Tauchman currently leads the Braves with 25 hits, 13 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases.
Excelling at Small Ball
Bradley is batting just .280 and has only six home runs in 18 games, but the Braves are manufacturing 5.6 runs per game by excelling at small ball ... Entering the week, Bradley leads The Valley with 27 sacrifices and is second to Wichita State (42) with 33 stolen bases ... Bradley's 18 opponents have just 14 sacrifices and five stolen bases (in 14 attempts).
Starters Start Strong
Bradley's starting pitchers have set the tone for the team's hot start this season ... In the first 18 games, the Bradley starters have combined for an 8-4 record with a 2.73 earned run average ... The quartet of Joe Bircher (2-2, 3.31 ERA), Jacob Booden (3-0, 0.68 ERA), Eric Holmes (1-0, 2.70 ERA) and John Nasshan (2-1, 3.41 ERA) have combined for an 8-3 record and 2.61 ERA in their 17 combined starts.
Set-Up Duo
Relievers Danny Gifford and Andy Johnson have played the role of set-up men to near perfection through the first month of the season ... Johnson is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his first seven appearances, while Gifford is 1-1 with a 2.20 ERA in his first seven outings ... Gifford has struck out 16 in 16.1 innings and the duo has combined for a .239 opposition batting average.
Ziegler Closes the Door
Junior right-hander Justin Ziegler has excelled in the closer role in his third year with the Braves ... Ziegler did not own a save in 27 appearances, primarily as a middle reliever, in his first two years with the Braves, but already boasts six saves in 10 outings this year ... The six saves already are one more than Bradley's 2010 season total and are the second-best single-season total in school history, just one shy of the record seven saves by Kori Jensen in 2008.
Young Gun
Freshman Austin Jarvis has started 17 of Bradley's first 18 games behind the dish ... The strong-armed rookie has helped short-circuit the opposition's running game by throwing out eight of the 12 runners that have tried to steal against him.
