What a difference a year makes! As we begin playing the games that count, we see a stronger Missouri Valley Conference with a challenging line-up of teams.
The Bradley Braves are in town this weekend...a team that, during a down period toward the end of last season beat us in two of three at their place. We also lost two of three at Evansville late in the campaign. We were beating the good teams and losing to the softer competitiors last year!
The Braves ended pre-conference play at 18-9 and were 13-8 on the road. Their team batting average is .288 and their team ERA is a miserly 3.89. On paper they are a pretty good match with ISU. It's a matter of which team has a better game.
From the dish, their leader is sophomore outfielder Mike Tauchman (.367) who has an OBP of .475 with 20 runs and 19 RBI's. Number two guy is Jason Leblebijian (.343), followed by Rob Elliott (.308).
On the mound today, the Sycamores will face junior lefty Joe Bircher (4-2, 2.89 ERA). In 46.2 innings, Bircher has given up 15 earned runs on 41 hits, 16 walks, 29 K's and just four extra base hits (all doubles). His opposing batting average is .244. In the pen, closer Justin Ziegler has 13 appearances with 14.1 innings under his belt and a 3.77 ERA. The big surprise is that he already has eight saves!
The Braves are off to their best pre-conference start since 1989 and among teams common to BU an ISU this year so far...BU is 5-1 and ISU is 2-3. Those teams are Indiana, Butler Illinois and Western Illinois.
Weatherwise, at the 7:00 p.m. first pitch, after morning showers we're expecting mostly cloudy skies and 67-degrees with light northerly winds.
You can hear today's game on commercial radio for the first time this season on ESPN Radio 92.7 (on-air and on-line), WISU on-line, via Twitter updates, SycamoreVision and live stats service.
The Bradley Braves are in town this weekend...a team that, during a down period toward the end of last season beat us in two of three at their place. We also lost two of three at Evansville late in the campaign. We were beating the good teams and losing to the softer competitiors last year!
The Braves ended pre-conference play at 18-9 and were 13-8 on the road. Their team batting average is .288 and their team ERA is a miserly 3.89. On paper they are a pretty good match with ISU. It's a matter of which team has a better game.
From the dish, their leader is sophomore outfielder Mike Tauchman (.367) who has an OBP of .475 with 20 runs and 19 RBI's. Number two guy is Jason Leblebijian (.343), followed by Rob Elliott (.308).
On the mound today, the Sycamores will face junior lefty Joe Bircher (4-2, 2.89 ERA). In 46.2 innings, Bircher has given up 15 earned runs on 41 hits, 16 walks, 29 K's and just four extra base hits (all doubles). His opposing batting average is .244. In the pen, closer Justin Ziegler has 13 appearances with 14.1 innings under his belt and a 3.77 ERA. The big surprise is that he already has eight saves!
The Braves are off to their best pre-conference start since 1989 and among teams common to BU an ISU this year so far...BU is 5-1 and ISU is 2-3. Those teams are Indiana, Butler Illinois and Western Illinois.
Weatherwise, at the 7:00 p.m. first pitch, after morning showers we're expecting mostly cloudy skies and 67-degrees with light northerly winds.
You can hear today's game on commercial radio for the first time this season on ESPN Radio 92.7 (on-air and on-line), WISU on-line, via Twitter updates, SycamoreVision and live stats service.
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