PEORIA, Ill. ? Sophomore Alycia Bachkora was a single away from hitting for the cycle and freshman infielder Lauren Meister and junior Stephanie Ramsey both went 3-for-4 at the plate as Bradley pounded out a season-high 16 hits in an 8-3 victory against IUPUI Saturday afternoon in first day action at the Schutt Showcase at the Dragon's Dome in Pekin, Ill.

Bradley (5-1 overall) won its third straight game and is now off to its best start to a season since opening the 1995 campaign 7-0. Picking up the victory for the Braves was freshman Amanda Clack as she surrendered six hits and three earned runs, while striking out five in her pitching debut.

The Braves scored in every inning but the second and threatened to run-rule the Jaguars on several occasions, but left a total of 13 runners on base in the contest. Bradley's first run of the game came in the top of the first inning when Clack scored on an IUPUI error on a double steal.

Bachkora notched the first of her three extra-base hits in the game in the second, when she belted a two-out, two-run homer to right center in the third inning that gave BU a 3-0 lead. Freshman Janay Mitchell's double to left field with two outs in the fourth inning scored Ramsey from second base to give the Braves a 4-0 advantage.

The game nearly got out of hand in the fifth inning. Bachkora doubled to right field with a runner on and Meister followed with an RBI single making the score 5-0. A wild pitch and walk loaded the bases for Ramsey who ripped a single through the right side of the infield to plate Bachkora. IUPUI reliever Angelica Espinosa escaped the bases loaded, no-out jam without surrendering another run as the Braves left three runners on base to end the inning.

Bachkora had a two-out triple to right in the sixth and came around to score on a Meister single to give the Braves a 7-0 lead, but IUPUI would finally touch up Clack for three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Clack gave up singles in the first and second inning, but retired 12 consecutive hitters before yielding a one-out single in the sixth. A fielder's choice and wild pitch put runners at second and third with one out for Susan Jones who smacked a single up the middle that scored two runs. The Jaguars added another run in the inning on an RBI double down the left field line off the bat of Cayleigh Harvey to cut Bradley's lead to 7-3.

Bradley scored another run with two outs in the seventh. Katy Dammer led off the inning with a single and came around to score on senior Elizabeth Wilson's two-out double down the left field line that pushed BU's lead to 8-3.

Bachkora, Meister and Ramsey each went 3-for-4 at the plate to help the Braves belt out a season-best 16 hits. Bachkora also drove in two and scored three times, while Meister knocked in two runs and Ramsey scored once and drove in another run.

Jessica McGown suffered the loss for IUPUI (0-1 overall) in the season opener for the Jaguars. She gave up eight hits and six runs (four earned) in four innings of work.

In other action at the Schutt Showcase Saturday, Saint Louis won a pair of games, defeating Northern Iowa (2-0) and IUPUI (9-1 in six innings).

The Schutt Showcase will conclude with four games Sunday at the Dragon's Dome. Action begins at 10 a.m. with Northern Iowa taking on IUPUI and will be followed at noon by UNI and Saint Louis. Bradley will play in the final two games of the day, facing IUPUI at 2 p.m. and Saint Louis at 4 p.m.