PEORIA, Ill. -- After wrapping up a season-long, six-game homestand with a doubleheader sweep of Indiana State, the Bradley softball team kicks off the final road swing of the season Wednesday with a midweek doubleheader at Northern Iowa. The Braves and Panthers will play a pair of games beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Bradley swept a doubleheader from Indiana State Saturday to pass the Sycamores and move into ninth place in the conference standings. Senior Kate Singler (Witt, Ill./Nokomis/Heartland) homered in last week's midweek game against UNI and has homered in each of the last three games heading into Wednesday's twin-bill against the Panthers.
The Braves look to avenge last week's 2-1, nine-inning home loss to the Panthers. Rachel Gerking provided the winning hit for UNI, leading off the top of the ninth inning with a solo home run. Bradley (10-35 overall, 3-14 MVC) is 3-1 in road games against Northern Iowa since the start of the 2006 season.
Northern Iowa (25-23 overall, 9-10 MVC) dropped two of three home games against Creighton over the weekend to open a season-ending, 11-game homestand. The Panthers are fifth in the league standings, one-and-a-half games out of fourth place.
Singler's seven home runs this season rank as the fifth best season total in program history and she needs just one more homer to break into Bradley's career top 10 in the category.
Junior Julie Sherman (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) brings a season-best seven-game hit streak into the five-game road swing, which includes three games at Evansville this weekend. She leads the team with a .338 batting average and has a career-best 45 hits on the year.
Senior Brittany Fairbairn (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East/Kankakee C.C.) was moved to the cleanup spot against Indiana State and went 3-for-7 with a triple and three RBI in the victories. Fairbairn, who currently has a six-game hit streak, has the most hits (47) by a Bradley player since 2005 and is three hits from becoming the first Brave with 50 hits in a season since Laura Harms finished the 2004 campaign with 73 hits.
Freshman Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley) has enjoyed Missouri Valley Conference play so far this season, boasting a 1-2 record in eight appearances with a 1.58 ERA and an 11-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in league play. In addition to her improved numbers in the circle, Lynch-Crumrine is hitting 20 points higher in Valley play (.264) and scored or driven in 10 runs in 17 games.
Live stats for both games against UNI will be available at BradleyBraves.com.
