PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley softball team was picked to finish fifth according to the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches' poll announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.
After a fourth-place regular-season finish in 2014 and MVC Tournament title, the Braves received 54 points in the preseason vote of Valley coaches to finish fifth. Bradley was 20 points behind fourth-place Southern Illinois (54 points) and five points ahead of sixth-place Drake (49 points). Defending regular-season conference champion Wichita State was first with 94 points and seven out of 10 first-place selections.
The Braves returned 13 letterwinners from last year's squad, which posted a 27-32 overall record and was fourth in the regular-season MVC race at 15-12. The 15 conference wins were a school record and Bradley's fourth-place finish was the team's best since taking second in 1994. The Braves went on to claim their second MVC Tournament title en route to the team's second NCAA Tournament appearance under seventh-year head coach Amy Hayes.
Seniors Shannon King (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) and Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) are expected to help lead a Bradley offense, which ranked among the most potent in the league last spring.
A MVC All-Tournament team selection, King is the top returning hitter in the lineup after batting .302 as a junior last year. She drove in a career-best 31 runs (10th in school history) and is a three-year starter at second base for the Braves.
Clemente led the team with 16 extra-base hits in 2014 and her 37 RBI tied for the fifth-best season total in program history. A .298 hitter last year, she led the squad with 37 runs and was just the second player in school history to score and drive in more than 35 runs in the same season. Clemente is sixth in Bradley history with 74 career RBI.
Junior Kendall Duffy (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) was a Second-Team All-MVC pick last year as a sophomore after splitting time between third base and catcher. Duffy drove in 25 runs as a sophomore, which tied for the fourth-best total by a Bradley underclassman and her 42 career RBI ranks fifth in school history for a Bradley player prior to their junior year.
Sophomore Jaelen Hull (Clifton, Ill./Bishop McNamara) is the most experienced pitcher on the roster after tossing 123.2 innings and five complete games as a freshman. Hull earned the victory in the MVC Championship game and her seven wins were the most by a Bradley freshman since Ashley Birdsong in 2006.
Bradley is scheduled to open the 2015 season in Tempe, Ariz., at the Kajikawa Classic. The Braves face Utah Valley Friday, Feb. 6 at 10:15 a.m. (CST) in the season opener.
