Braves Head to 2018 MVC Baseball Championship

Mark Schrimmer

Bradley Game Notes

Baseball 5/22/2018 1:52:00 PM

MVC TOURNAMENT
Bradley (30-17, 11-10 MVC) vs. Illinois State (22-28, 9-12 MVC)
Dallas, TX • Horner Ballpark • ESPN+
Wednesday, May 23 • 4 p.m. CT • Watch • Live Stats • Tickets

MVC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
• One of the most-improved teams in the nation, Bradley enters the 2018 MVC Baseball Championship as the No. 3 seed for the third time in four years.
• A year after posting a 20-31 record, Bradley enters the MVC Tournament with a 30-17 mark and an opportunity for the biggest year-to-year turnaround in program history.
• The Braves are seeking their first Missouri Valley Conference postseason championship since winning the 1968 MVC Divisional Playoff.
• Each of the previous four times Bradley has entered the MVC tournament as a top four seed, the Braves have won at least two games, while reaching championship Saturday in both 2015
and 2016.
• Competing in Bracket B, Bradley will open the 2018 MVC Baseball Championship by facing the most common opponent in program history - Interstate 74 rival Illinois State.
• The Braves and Redbirds will be joined in Bracket B by league newcomer Valparaiso and tourney host Dallas Baptist.
• Bradley won 2-of-3 in road series at both Illinois State and Valparaiso, but the Braves were swept at home by Dallas Baptist.

MVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
53-74 All-Time, 5 Championships
vs. DBU: 5-16 Overall, 1-2 Tourney
vs. Illinois State: 107-114 Overall, 3-4 Tourney
vs. Valparaiso: 15-12 Overall, 0-0 Tourney
Dominguez in MVC Tourney: 7-15
Last 10 Games of Regular-Season: 4-6

TOURNEY 3 SEED
• Bradley enters the 2018 MVC Baseball Championship as the No. 3 seed for the third time in four years.
• Since snaring the No. 2 seed in 1987, Bradley finished as high as the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament in only two seasons - 1993 and 2007 - until starting its current run in 2015.
• Bradley has won at least two games at the MVC Tournament in each of the last four years the Braves have been a top four seed: 2016 (2-2), 2015 (3-1), 2007 (2-2), 1994 (3-2).

30 WINS IN FIRST 45 GAMES
• A year after posting a 20-31 record and despite playing the fewest games in The Valley, Bradley completed the regular season with 30 wins for just the third time (2007 and 2015)
since 1996.
• The Braves earned their 30th win Thursday at Southern Illinois in their 45th game of the season.
• The 45 games needed to reach 30 wins represented the fifth fewest in program history, bettered only by the 1948 (35), 1993 (39), 1987 (42) and 1996 (42) Braves.
• The current 10-win, year-to-year improvement is tied for the fourth-best in program history and the Braves need two wins to match the record 12-win improvements of the 1948 and 2015 squads.

AMONG NATION'S MOST IMPROVED
• Bradley enters the postseason as one of the 10 most-improved teams in the nation.
• Coming off a 20-31 (.392) campaign in 2017, the Braves completed the regular season with a 30-17 (.638) overall record.
• Bradley's 246 percentage-points improvement ranks ninth nationally.

VALLEY ROAD WINS
• After finishing 6-14 in Valley play last year, Bradley topped that overall league victory total on the road alone by posting a program-record eight MVC road victories in 2018.
• The Braves were 0-9 in MVC road games last season and went 0-11 away from home against Valley competition when you include the two MVC Tournament losses in Springfield, MO.
• In the 38 seasons since recorded Missouri Valley Conference play resumed in 1981, Bradley finished The Valley season with a winning road record for just the fifth time.
• The 2016 team's 7-5 MVC road record was Bradley's only winning conference record away from home in the previous 25 years.

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