PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley softball team will travel west for the second consecutive week, heading to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Nike Invitational Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Bradley (2-3 overall) will face all three teams in the tournament for the first time in program history during the three-day event at Stanford, including the second game against a Pac-12 Conference foe this season. The Braves begin play Friday at 2:15 p.m. (CST) against Nevada (1-4 overall).
Friday's action also includes a 6:45 p.m. (CST) matchup with eighth-ranked Stanford (4-1 overall). BU will play two games against Pac-12 Conference schools for the second consecutive season after playing third-ranked California last week. The contest against the Cardinal will also mark the first time the Braves have played two games against teams ranked in the top 10 in the national polls in the same season.
Saturday's play is slated to begin at noon (CST) against Big West Conference preseason co-favorite Pacific (0-2). The Tigers opened the season with losses to nationally ranked Kentucky and UCLA. The tournament semifinals will be played Saturday afternoon (4:30 p.m. & 6:45 p.m.) with the third-place and championship games on Sunday.
Live stats for all five games at the Nike Stanford Invitational will be available at BradleyBraves.com
Three of the Braves five games in the opening weekend were decided by one run, with BU going 2-1 in those contests. Bradley drew an impressive 18 walks during the opening weekend of play, averaging 3.60 walks per game. The Braves averaged 2.02 walks per game in 2011.
Senior Julie Sherman (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) picked up where she left off last year, hitting .375 (6-for-16) to help highlight the 2012 Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., for BU last weekend.
Fellow senior Jackie Roth (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) also had a solid opening weekend, collecting a double, home run and driving in three runs. Sophomore Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley) picked up a win and one save in four appearances, tossing 21 of 34 innings for the Braves.
Following the weekend trip to California, Bradley will make the team's first trip to the state of Georgia since the 2003 campaign to take part in the Phyllis Rafter Memorial in Woodstock, Ga., Feb. 24-26.
