Baseball Closes Home Stand Against Old Valley Rival

Bradley Baseball will close its season-long, 10-game home stand this weekend by hosting Saint Louis in a 3-game series at Dozer Park

Josh Schwam

Bradley Pre-Series Notes

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Baseball 4/22/2021 5:01:00 PM

PEORIA, IL – Originally scheduled to host Western Illinois in a 4-game non-conference series, Bradley Baseball shifted gears and now will host one-time Missouri Valley Conference rival Saint Louis in a 3-game series, starting Friday evening at Dozer Park.

SERIES DETAILS
Saint Louis (12-20) at Bradley (12-14)
Peoria, IL | Dozer Park
Friday, April 23 | 5:00 p.m. CT | ESPN3 | Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, April 24 | 1:00 p.m. CT | ESPN3 | Live Stats | Tickets
Sunday, April, 25 | 1:00 p.m. CT | ESPN3 | Live Stats | Tickets

SETTING THE SCENE
• Former Missouri Valley Conference rivals from decades ago, Bradley and Saint Louis quickly found replacements for their orginally-scheduled weekend opponents and will meet for a 3-game weekend series at Dozer Park.
• Bradley was slated to face local rival Western Illinois in a 4-game set at Dozer Park, while Saint Louis had been scheduled to visit Atlantic 10 Conference rival Dayton for a 4-game league set, but both the Leathernecks and Flyers are experiencing program pauses due to COVID-19 issues within their Tier 1 personnel.
• The Braves and Billikens have faced each other on the diamond 114 times, dating to 1939, and the Braves own a 79-34-1 series lead.
• Bradley's 79 wins against Saint Louis are the most against any current non-conference opponent in program history.
• The series against Saint Louis will conclude what has become a 10-game home stand and represents the final non-conference games of the season for the Braves.

CLOSING THE HOME STAND
• Having played 18 of its first 19 games away from home, Bradley now sees the travel schedule change dramatically in its favor by continuing what has been reduced to a 10-game home stand (originally 12, but one game of the Evansville series was rained out and this weekend's series has been reduced from four to three games).
• Bradley's first 19 games of the season were played in six different states: Illinois, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Nebraska and Missouri.
• Not only did the Evansville series mark the start of this 10-game home stand, but it marked the start of an overall schedule that will see the Braves play 18 of its final 26 regular-season games at Dozer Park.
• The 10-game home stand that is the longest for the Braves since a similar, 10-game stretch at Dozer Park from April 24-May 12, 2013.

SERIES NOTES
Games 115-117 | Bradley leads 79-34-1
• The series against Saint Louis dates back to a home-and-home set swept by the Braves during the 1939 season.
• The weekend series will represent games 115-117 in the all-time series, which Bradley leads by a 79-34-1 count.
• The 79 wins against Saint Louis are the third-most against any opponent in program history, trailing only current Missouri Valley Conference rivals Illinois State (109) and Southern Illinois (82).
• The teams played 28 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season games from 1949-1966 with Bradley posting a 22-6 record in those games.
• The weekend series at Dozer Park will be the first series of at least three games between the two teams since the Braves took 3-of-4 in a pair of doubleheaders April 4-5, 1980 in St. Louis.
• Since the start of the 2000 season, Saint Louis holds a 10-8 series advantage and the Billikens have won two straight, as well as three of the last four, against Bradley.

FIGHTING PEDIATRIC BRAIN CANCER
• For the seventh consecutive season, Bradley Baseball has joined the fight against pediatric brain cancer by raising awareness and funds for the Vs. Cancer Foundation.
• Bradley's 2021 effort is being spearheaded by senior OF Dan Bolt and senior 3B Brendan Dougherty.
• As of April 22, Bradley leads all NCAA Division I baseball teams by raising $23,673 on behalf of Vs. Cancer, pushing the program's seven-year fundraising total to more than $100,000
• In its annual sign of support to the children suffering through treatment, the Braves conducted their annual postgame head shave Sunday.
• Bradley Baseball Vs. Cancer donation page: https://team.curethekids.org/team/346514.

RPI WATCH
• After taking 3-of-4 games last weekend from Southern Illinois and through games of April 21, Bradley has climbed to No. 64 in the NCAA RPI rankings.
• Bradley's RPI position is second in The Valley, trailing only Indiana State (26), which will host the Braves next weekend.

UP NEXT
• Following this weekend's series versus Saint Louis, the Braves will close out the regular season by playing their final 16 games against MVC competition.
• Bradley will begin The Valley closing stretch by visiting #21 Indiana State for a 4-game series next weekend (April 30-May 2) in Terre Haute.
• Bradley has two home series remaining, May 7-9 versus Valparaiso and May 20-22 against Illinois State.

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Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt: OF; 6' 1"; Senior; L/R

#26 Brendan Dougherty: IF; 6' 2"; Senior; L/R

Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt
: 6' 1"; Senior; L/R
: OF

#26 Brendan Dougherty
: 6' 2"; Senior; L/R
: IF

Baseball Closes Home Stand Against Old Valley Rival

Bradley Baseball will close its season-long, 10-game home stand this weekend by hosting Saint Louis in a 3-game series at Dozer Park

Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt

#26 Brendan Dougherty

Players Mentioned

#35 Dan Bolt

#26 Brendan Dougherty