Non-Conference Week

With only four home games played to date, Bradley Baseball will play a trio of non-conference games at Dozer Park this week

Bradley Baseball Notes (PDF)

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 4/18/2018 10:26:00 AM

Games 30-32
Western Illinois (7-20) at Bradley (20-9)
Peoria, IL • Dozer Park
Wednesday, April 18 • 6:00 p.m. CT • Live Stats
Tickets: $6 adults, $4 youth (K-8th grade), $12 suites

RMU-Springfield (1-18) at Bradley (20-9)
Peoria, IL • Dozer Park
Saturday, April 21 • 12:00 p.m. CT • Live Stats
Sunday, April 22 • 12:00 p.m. CT • Live Stats
Tickets: Free admission, $12 suites

Non-Conference Week
• Bradley Baseball will take a break from its Missouri Valley Conference schedule to play three non-conference games this week at Dozer Park.
• The Braves are scheduled to play just the fifth, sixth and seventh home games of the season by hosting Western Illinois Wednesday night and Robert Morris-Springfield in noon games Saturday and Sunday.
• After playing 25 of its first 29 games away from home, Bradley is slated to play 10 of its next 15 at Dozer Park, where the Braves are 3-1 this year.
• Wednesday's game against Western Illinois will be the return game in a home-and-home series, which Bradley opened with a 14-7 victory April 4 in Macomb.
• Bradley will not charge admission for the weekend games versus RMU-Springfield.

Western Illinois Series History
107th Meeting: Bradley leads 63-43
Most Recent: Bradley, 14-7 (April 4 at Western Illinois)
Current Streak: Bradley, W5

RMU-Springfield Series History
4th and 5th Meetings: Bradley leads 3-0
Most Recent: Bradley, 15-0 in 7 innings (March 25, 2017 at Bradley)
Current Streak: Bradley, W3

Snow and Rain, Go Away
• e this season due to rain, snow or frigid temperatures.
• All five cancellations have been of home games, leaving the Braves with just 14 games on the Dozer Park schedule this season.
• The 2018 season will mark the sixth in the last seven years in which the Braves will play fewer than 20 home games.

Snow and Rain, Go Away
• Bradley has had five games cancelled to date this season due to rain, snow or frigid temperatures.
• All five cancellations have been of home games, leaving the Braves with just 14 games on the Dozer Park schedule this season.
• The 2018 season will mark the sixth in the last seven years in which the Braves will play fewer than 20 home games.

Improvement Forecast
• Bradley completed the 2017 season with a 20-31 overall record.
• At 20-9 to start the week, the Braves already have equaled last year's final victory total.
• At its current .690 winning percentage, the Bradley is on pace to win 34 games this season.
• The potential 14-win improvement would surpass the 2015 NCAA Regional squad and 1948 team for the best year-to-year win total jump in program history.

Improvement To Date
• On the way to last year's 20-31 overall record, Bradley was 12-17 through its first 29 games.
• Using the NCAA formula to calculate W-L improvement and heading into the week, Bradley's W-L improvement through 29 games is +8.0.
• Bradley has finished a having improved its W-L record by at least 8.0 just four times in program history, most recently with a +9.0 improvement from 2014 to 2015.

14 Wins Away From Home
• Bradley enters the weekend with the third-best overall record (17-9) in the Missouri Valley Conference, despite playing 22 of its first 26 games away from home.
• Not only are Bradley's 14 wins away from home through April 11 the most in The Valley, they are tied for fifth-most in the nation.
• Through 29 games, the current .298 increase in winning percentage represents Bradley's best win percentage improvement since 1967, when the Braves finished 17-5-1 (.761) after a 7-10 (.412) campaign in 1966, good for a .349 winning percentage improvement.

Home Sick
• Having played just four games at Dozer Park this year, Bradley is the only Valley team that has not played at least five home games.
• That should not be a surprise, however, as Bradley has played the fewest home games (72) in the league the last five years.
• Bradley's 72 home games the last five years are 14 fewer than Illinois State (86) and three less than Valley newcomer Valparaiso (75).
• Since the start of 2014, Dallas Baptist has won 37 more home games (109), than Bradley has played (72).

Finishing Strong
• Bradley's strong finishes to each week is reflective of its stong finishes to games.
• The Braves have outscored their opponents 80-44 in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings this season.
• In those three frames through the first 29 games, Bradley is batting .324 with 50 walks and 21 hit-by-pitches.

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