The 2016 Bradley Baseball schedule was released last week and features some strong matchups. The Braves were successful last year as they compiled the most wins since 1996 and earned an NCAA-tournament berth for the first time in 47 years as a No. 2 seed in the Louisville Regional.
The Braves will start their season with 23 consecutive away games, beginning with Austin Peay. They will then travel to San Antonio to play in the Irish Alamo Invitational Feb. 25 to 27, which is hosted by Notre Dame and also features Gonzaga, Texas Southern and Incarnate Word.
“Getting invited to play in the Irish Alamo Invitational is a big testament to where we’re at and how far we’ve come,” head coach Elvis Dominguez said. “It will be a tremendous challenge for our team.”
The Braves are also set to play in the Russ Mat Central Florida Invitational, which takes place in and around Orlando. There they will play Bucknell, Lehigh, Dartmouth, Brown and Central Florida.
To round out the non-conference schedule, Bradley will play Western Michigan and Butler in Indianapolis and visit Saint Louis, who was the A10 regular season champion last season. The Braves will also play a home-and-home series with Iowa, who also earned a two seed in a regional last year. The Braves will play at Peoria’s Dozer Park for their home opener against MacMurray College April 1.
Bradley will jump into their Missouri Valley Conference schedule following the game against MacMurray. They host Missouri State, Indiana State and Dallas Baptist (DBU), while they visit Evansville, Wichita State, Illinois State, Southern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville. The game at Dozer Park on April 30 against DBU is scheduled to be televised nationally on ESPNU. Their MVC season will conclude with the conference tournament hosted by Indiana State, with the opportunity to return to the NCAA tournament.
“Our schedule is as tough or tougher than a year ago,” Dominguez said. “The fact that we had three of the eight teams in our conference earn an NCAA bid last year says a lot about the MVC.”
After having one of Bradley’s most successful seasons in recent history, the Braves have high expectations.
“The bar is raised,” Dominguez said. “It’s been our goal to make this one of the best teams in the Midwest. We have what it takes to get there, and that’s what we’re striving for.”
