PEORIA, Ill. -- After traveling west each of the first two weekends of the season, the Bradley softball team heads to Bowling Green, Ky., for the Hilltopper Spring Fling Saturday and Sunday. The Braves will be making their first trip to the state of Kentucky since playing in a tournament at Louisville in 2009.
Bradley (2-8 overall) opens up tournament play Saturday morning with a 10 a.m. matchup against Belmont (3-5 overall). The Braves and Bruins will be meeting for the second time after Bradley posted a 10-0 victory against Belmont in Cape Girardeau, Mo., during the 2007 season in the first meeting.
Saturday's action concludes with a 5 p.m. game against first-time opponent Canisius (2-2 overall). Bradley takes on Miami (Ohio) Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and will also face 2013 NCAA Tournament participant and tournament-host Western Kentucky at 3 p.m.
The contest against Miami (Ohio) will be the first meeting since 2004 and fourth overall in the series. The Braves topped the Redhawks 5-1 in Cape Girardeau, Mo., in the last meeting (2004), but Miami won a pair of games during the 1991 season in Tallahassee, Fla., and owns a 2-1 lead in the series.
Western Kentucky (5-4-1 overall) will be Bradley's fifth opponent this spring which played in last year's NCAA Tournament. The teams have split four previous matchups with the Braves winning the last two meetings, including a 3-2 win in Louisville, Ky., during the 2007 campaign.
Links to live stats for all four games will be available at BradleyBraves.com.
Junior Shannon King (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) had a big weekend at the Stanford Nike Invitational, going 8-for-16 with a double, two triples, three RBI and three runs scored. In two career trips to her home state, King has hit .406 (13-for-32) with five runs, one double, three triples and six RBI.
Senior Alex Chandler (Needles, Calif./Needles) drew six walks in five games last weekend and has helped Bradley collect a conference-best 43 walks this spring. The Braves are averaging 4.3 walks per game, which is well above last season's average of 2.46 walks per contest. In 2013, Bradley's 128 base on balls were the second highest season total in school history and the Braves were just five walks from breaking the school season record average of 2.54 walks per game.
Chandler is one home run away from becoming the only player to rank in Bradley's career top 10 in homers, walks and bases, entering the weekend ninth in career base on balls with 47. Senior Bailiegh Basham (Mattoon, Ill./Mattoon/Lake Land C.C.) is second in career walks at Bradley with 65 and is just five base on balls from breaking Julie Jehle's (1993-96) school record of 69.
The Braves have had a busy opening stretch, playing a conference-leading 10 games so far this spring and have a school-record 16 games scheduled for the month of February. Following the weekend trip to Kentucky, Bradley will trek to Orlando, Fla., for the Citrus Classic; opening tournament play against Ohio State at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28.
