Bradley Hosts Illinois Wednesday Night

Baseball 4/26/2022 3:16:00 PM

The Bradley baseball team returns to action with a midweek non-conference matchup against Illinois on Wednesday night. First pitch at Dozer Park between the in-state foes is set for 6 p.m.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley owns a 13-20 record with a 5-4 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.
• The Braves are coming off a series win against I-74 rival Illinois State, winning the opener, 3-1, and the finale, 8-2.
• Senior Keaton Rice led BU during the series with the Redbirds – going 6-for-11 with one home run, three doubles and six RBI.
• Freshman John Day is slated to start for BU on Wednesday. Day owns an 11.72 earned run average on the season – striking out 20 in 17.2 innings of work. In his only other start of the season, Day allowed two hits and one run in 2.0 innings versus No. 16 Dallas Baptist.

ABOUT THE ILLINI
• Illinois enters the contest with a 20-17 overall record, posting an 11-4 record in Big Ten action.
• The Illini dropped 2-of-3 in a series with nationally-ranked Maryland over the weekend – claiming the opener before falling on Saturday and Sunday.
• Offensively, Illinois features four players hitting at least .300 – averaging 7.1 runs per game.
• Illinois is slated to start Clayton Johnson on the mound, who owns a 16.20 earned run average in 3.1 innings of work this season.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1927, Illinois holds a 43-23-1 advantage over the Braves.
• The schools are playing for the first time since the 2019 season as COVID had paused the in-state rivalry the last two years with 2022's earlier matchup being canceled due to inclement weather.
• The road team has controlled the series as of late, winning the last seven meetings. Bradley was the last home team to earn a victory, defeating the Illini, 7-4, in 2011.

HAMMERIN' HUSMAN
• Carson Husmann is leading BU from a power-hitting position.
• Husmann has connected on four home runs in the team's last seven games (on five total hits) – only one other Brave has at least four home runs in 33 games this campaign.
• Overall, Husmann's nine homers are already tied for the most by a Brave in the last three seasons. He is one home run shy of becoming the first BU player to reach double digits in home runs since Dan Bolt (11) and Luke Shadid (10) did so in 2019.

TEAM HOME RUNS
• Overall, Bradley is hitting the home run at a higher rate this season.
• The Braves have connected on 35 home runs in 33 games this season (1.07 per game).
• Not including the shortened 2020 COVID season, it marks Bradley's most home runs per game since hitting 1.26 per game in 2001.

CONSISTENCY FOR O'BRIEN
• The key for junior Connor O'Brien during the 2022 season is his consistency.
• O'Brien has recorded at least one hit in 29-of-33 games, while reaching base in 32 contests.
• In fact, the junior has reached base safely in each of the last 31 games – tied for the fourth-longest streak by a Brave during the last 20 seasons.
• O'Brien also recorded a career-best 15-game hitting streak from Feb. 26 to March 1.

Print Friendly Version