Baseball Travels to Unique Setting

The Braves start a 3-game set at New Orleans, where they will play on field named for Bradley alum

Brooks Gosswein leg lift vs Evansville March 30, 2019

James Franks

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 3/5/2021 9:19:00 AM

NEW ORLEANS – Bradley Baseball (1-2) makes its first true road trip of the 2021 season this weekend by visiting New Orleans (4-4) for a 3-game set at Maestri Field, named in honor of former Braves student-athlete and multi-sport assistant coach Ron Maestri ,who went on to enjoy a hall-of-fame coaching and administrative career for the Privateers. Maestri was a player on Bradley's 1962 Missouri Valley Conference championship squad and coached New Orleans to two College World Series appearances.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Friday, March 5 at New Orleans (New Orleans, LA/Maestri Field), 6 p.m. | Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, March 6 at New Orleans (New Orleans, LA/Maestri Field), 12 p.m. | Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets
Sunday, March 7 at New Orleans (New Orleans, LA/Maestri Field), 11 a.m. | Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
Normal, IL (The Corn Crib)
Friday, Feb. 26 vs. #30 Ball State, L, 4-3 (10 inn)
Friday, Feb. 26 vs. #30 Ball State, L, 5-0 (7 inn)
Saturday, Feb. 27 vs. #30 Ball State, W, 6-0

MVC PITCHER-OF-THE-WEEK
Brooks Gosswein, Bradley, Jr., LHP, Barrington, IL (Barrington HS)
1 app. – 1 GS – 7.0 IP – 2 H – 0 R – 0 ER – 1 BB – 7 K – 86 NP
• Gosswein set the tone for Saturday's series finale versus #30 Ball State, blanking the Cardinals on two singles in 7.0 scoreless IP and he needed just 86 pitchers in his effort.
• Gosswein retired the first five Ball State hitters, before experiencing his lone hiccup of the game - a single, walk and wild pitch – that put runners at second and third with 2 outs in the second inning.
• He responded with a ground out to start a string of eight consecutive outs and he did not allow another hit until two outs in the sixth inning … Finished the game by retiring 16 of the final 18 batters he faced.
• Gosswein's effort figured as the second-best pitching performance in the nation Saturday, according to the Game Score formula managed by D1Baseball.com.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DEBUT
• While Brooks Gosswein gets the Pitcher-of-the-Week nominee, junior RHP Dalton Mall turned in the most impressive Bradley pitching debut in at least 16 years to open the 2021 season Friday night against #30 Ball State.
• Mall did not factor in Friday's extra-innings decision, but he limited the Cardinals to two runs, one earned, on four singles with one walk and 10 strikeouts in his 6.0 IP.
• Researching debut outings going back to 2006, Mall is the only Bradley pitcher in the last 16 seasons to strike out more than five hitters in his Braves debut.
• Research is on-going to identify double-digit strikeout performances in a Bradley Baseball pitching debut.

RECORD-TIER … AGAIN
• For the second time in his career, sophomore 1B Connor O'Brien tied the Bradley single-game doubles record when he legged out a trio of two-baggers in Saturday's 6-0 win against #30 Ball State.
• O'Brien's 3-for-4 performance Saturday marked the 25th time in Bradley Baseball history a Brave banged out three doubles in a game and he also produced the 24th 3-doubles effort in a 4-for-5 showing April 26, 2019 at Missouri State.

ALUMNUS MATCHUP
• Bradley returns to action by visiting New Orleans in a 3-game weekend series at UNO's Maestri Field.
• The facility is named for former Bradley Baseball student-athlete and multi-sport Braves assistant coach Ron Maestri, who went on to a hall-of-fame coaching and administrative career at New Orleans.
• A member of Bradley's 1962 MVC championship team, Maestri was an assistant baseball and football coach for the Braves, before taking over as the UNO Baseball head coach in 1972.
• Among his coaching highlights, Maestri led UNO to a 1974 NCAA Division II College World Series runner-up finish and a fifth-place showing at the 1984 NCAA Division I CWS.
• In addition to the ABCA Hall of Fame, Maestri has been inducted into the Athletics Halls of Fame at both Bradley and New Orleans, three of his eight total hall-of-fame memberships.

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Players Mentioned

#24 Brooks Gosswein: LHP; 6' 2"; Junior; L/L

#41 Connor O'Brien: 1B; 6' 1"; Sophomore; R/R

#23 Dalton Mall: RHP; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#24 Brooks Gosswein
: 6' 2"; Junior; L/L
: LHP

#41 Connor O'Brien
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; R/R
: 1B

#23 Dalton Mall
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: RHP

Baseball Travels to Unique Setting

The Braves start a 3-game set at New Orleans, where they will play on field named for Bradley alum

Players Mentioned

#24 Brooks Gosswein

#41 Connor O'Brien

#23 Dalton Mall

Players Mentioned

#24 Brooks Gosswein

#41 Connor O'Brien

#23 Dalton Mall