PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley softball closes out a stretch in which the Braves play eight of nine games on the road with a weekend series at defending regular-season Missouri Valley Conference champion Southern Illinois Saturday and Sunday.
Bradley is coming off a 7-0 home loss to Western Illinois Wednesday night in the final non-conference home game of the year. The Braves and Salukis open the three-game series with a noon doubleheader Saturday in Carbondale, Ill., and close out the set Sunday with a single game at noon.
The Valley schedule has been unkind to Bradley (8-28 overall, 1-7 MVC) so far as the Braves were scheduled to open league play with nine of the first 12 games away from home. Only one game has been cancelled to date, with the series finale against Drake cancelled because of cold temperatures. Bradley has played 13 true road games heading into the series with SIU and close the year with 10 of the final 16 games at home.
The Braves have played 10 games against teams ranked in the top 40 of the latest NCAA RPI Report issued on April 6 and 17 of BU's 36 games have been against teams from the top 100 in the RPI. Nine of the final 19 games of the season are vs. teams currently ranked in the top 100.
Southern Illinois (20-12 overall, 4-2 MVC) is the defending regular-season champion in the Missouri Valley Conference after posting a 20-5 league record last season and the Salukis shared the top honors in the preseason MVC Coaches' poll. SIU swept Wichita State in the first conference series of the year and lost two of three last weekend at Northern Iowa. The Salukis swept the regular-season series last year at Laura Bradley Park.
Freshman Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley) has provided a boost out of the bullpen for the Braves, giving up just one earned run in her last six appearances (17.2 innings). She gave up two runs (one earned) in seven innings in relief Wednesday against Western Illinois and boasts a 2.65 ERA in 12 relief appearances this season.
Live stats for all three games will be available on the Bradley Athletics website (www.BradleyBraves.com).
The Braves open a season-long seven-game homestand Saturday, April 16 with a noon doubleheader against Missouri State at Laura Bradley Park.
