Baseball Opens Valley Play at Southern Illinois

Josh Schwam

Baseball 3/31/2022 12:58:00 PM

The Bradley baseball team begins Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Southern Illinois. The schools open the set on Friday night at 6 p.m. with all three games available on ESPN3.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• The Braves enter Missouri Valley Conference play with a 7-12 record during the 2022 season.
• BU won 2-of-3 games last weekend at a Tennessee Tech that entered with a 14-5 record.
• BU is led by its offense in 2022 – ranking second in the Valley in batting average (.304) and fourth in runs per game (7.2).

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1952, the Salukis hold a slight edge against the Braves in 174 all-time meetings, 91-82-1.
• Last year, Bradley claimed 3-of-5 games versus Southern Illinois. The Braves won 3-of-4 in a regular-season series at Dozer Park – holding the Salukis to just eight total runs – only for SIU to respond with a 13-1 win in the MVC Tournament.
• The schools are meeting for the first time at in the regular season in Carbondale since 2018.

ABOUT THE SALUKIS
• Southern Illinois enters the Valley season with the best record so far in non-league play at 18-7.
• Last season, SIU was fourth in the MVC standings with a 15-13 league mark.
• The Salukis are led by an offense that ranks in the top 25 nationally with 8.6 runs per game and has five hitters with at least a .300 batting average.

HIGH RANKS FOR O'BRIEN
• Junior Connor O'Brien is enjoying the best year of his career in 2022.
• O'Brien leads the MVC and ranks 16th nationally with a .434 batting average.
• The first baseman also ranks among the nation's elite in hits per game (18th; 1.74), RBI per game (36th; 1.32) and in slugging percentage (46th; .737).

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
• The key for Connor O'Brien during the 2022 season is his consistency.
• O'Brien has recorded at least one hit in 17-of-19 games, while reaching base in 18 contests.
• The junior is currently on a career-best 14-game hitting streak – the sixth-longest streak by a Brave in the last 20 years – while reaching base safely in 17-straight contests.
• During the 14-game run, O'Brien is hitting .456 (26-57) – with seven multi-hit games – connecting on four home runs, six doubles and 19 RBI.

CAUGHT STEALING
• The defensive highlight for BU is senior Keaton Rice, who is nearing a school record.
• Rice has thrown out 58 runners during his career – including a Valley-best eight in 2022.
• The senior is now tied for the school record, originally set by Austin Jarvis from 2011-14.
• Rice has thrown out eight runners this season in just 15 stolen-base attempts – easily ranking first in the Valley with a .533 rate (SIU's Zack Jensen and Valpo's Angel DiFederico are second at .250).

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Players Mentioned

#41 Connor O'Brien: C/IF; 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R

#15 Keaton Rice: C; 6' 2"; Junior; L/R

Players Mentioned

#41 Connor O'Brien
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R
: C/IF

#15 Keaton Rice
: 6' 2"; Junior; L/R
: C

Baseball Opens Valley Play at Southern Illinois

Players Mentioned

#41 Connor O'Brien

#15 Keaton Rice

Players Mentioned

#41 Connor O'Brien

#15 Keaton Rice