Final Home Games of 2018

Two teams battling for the MVC regular-season title will meet at Dozer Park this weekend for Bradley's final three home games of the 2018 season

Mark Schrimmer

Bradley Series Notes (PDF)

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 5/10/2018 10:40:00 AM

GAMES 42-44
Dallas Baptist (32-15, 12-3 MVC) at Bradley (29-12, 10-5 MVC)
Peoria, IL • Dozer Park • ESPN+
Friday, May 11 • 6:00 p.m. CT • Watch • Listen • Live Stats
Saturday, May 12 • 2:00 p.m. CT • Watch • Listen • Live Stats
Sunday, May 13 • 12:00 p.m. CT • Watch • Listen • Live Stats
General Admission Tickets: $6 adults, $4 (K-8), Free Bradley University students, faculty and staff, as well as active military
Suite Tickets: $12 each

FINAL VALLEY HOME GAMES
• Bradley's final home series of the season features a showdown near the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings as the third-place Braves host second-place Dallas Baptist.
• The visiting Patriots travel to Peoria trailing Missouri State in the league standings by just one game, while Bradley sits three back of the first-place Bears, all with six Valley games remaining.
• Bradley enters the weekend as the most-improved team in the nation this season by winning percentage, turning a 20-31 (.392) record in 2017 into a 29-12 (.707) record to date this season.
• The Braves have been particularly hot since the calendar flipped to April, winning 16-of-21 (.762) games since April 1.
• Since joining The Valley as an affiliate baseball member for the 2014 season, Dallas Baptist has finished first or second in the regular-season league standings each of its first four years of membership.
• DBU has won 10 straight Valley series since being swept at Missouri State April 7-9, 2017.
• Bradley can earn its 30th win at the earliest point of a season since 1996.
• Due to DBU's travel schedule, Sunday's home finale has been pushed up an hour and will start at noon. The Braves will honor their five seniors in a pregame ceremony to begin at approximately 11:30 a.m. and all of the players' mothers are invited to join in a ceremonial first pitch following the senior ceremony on Mother's Day.

SERIES HISTORY
Meetings 19-21: Dallas Baptist leads, 13-5
Most Recent: 5/24/2017 at MVC Tournament - DBU, 15-9
Current Streak: Dallas Baptist, W4
Elvis Dominguez vs. DBU: 5-13
Dan Heefner vs. Bradley: 13-5

NATION'S MOST-IMPROVED
• Bradley enters the weekend as the nation's most-improved team by winning percentage, compared to last year's final record.
• Coming off a 20-31 (.392) campaign in 2017, the Braves enter the DBU series 29-12 (.707).
• Bradley's 315 percentage-points improvement is 26 points better than the second-best jump made by Stetson (.289, .482 to .771).

QUICKEST TO 30
• Bradley takes a 29-12 record into this weekend's series versus Dallas Baptist, leaving the Braves with at least nine more games to reach 30 wins for the season.
• In the 118th season of Bradley Baseball, the Braves have won as many as 30 games in a season just 15 times, most recently in 2015.
• Friday's series opener against DBU will be Bradley's 42nd game of the year.
• Of the 15 30-win seasons in program history, the Braves reached their 30th win by the 42nd game only four times, most recently in the 42nd game of the 1996 season.

HOME SICK
• Having played just 11 games at Dozer Park this year, Bradley and Valparaiso (11) are the only MVC teams to play fewer than 14 home games this season.
• Bradley has played the fewest home games (79) in the league the last five years.
• Bradley's 79 home games the last five years are two fewer than Valparaiso (81) and 11 fewer than Illinois State (90).
• Since the start of 2014, Dallas Baptist has won 34 more home games (113), than Bradley has played (79).

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