PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley softball team will play the first of two home non-conference games on the 2015 schedule Tuesday when the Braves host in-state foe Western Illinois in a 4 p.m. game at Laura Bradley Park. Tuesday's game will be the first home non-conference game for Bradley since an April 9, 2013 game against SIU Edwardsville.
Fresh off a three-game weekend sweep of Loyola, the Braves continue a season-long 10-game home stand Tuesday against the Leathernecks. Bradley has played a total of three non-conference home games since the start of the 2011 season and Tuesday's outing will mark just the 11th non-conference home game under seventh-year head coach Amy Hayes for the Braves.
The three wins over the weekend over Loyola pushed Bradley's home win total to four this spring, just two short of matching last year's total with four games remaining on the home stand and 12 home tilts left on the 2015 slate.
BradleyBraves.com will provide a link to live stats for Tuesday's game in addition to a free video stream via Bradley All-Access.
Bradley looks to snap a three-game losing streak in the series with Western Illinois, but the Braves are 9-3 in the last 12 matchups with the Leathernecks.
Pitching was a big part of Bradley's success against Loyola, with Bradley hurlers holding the Ramblers without a run for the final 16 innings. Sophomore Jaelen Hull (Clifton, Ill./Bishop McNamara) had her longest outing of the season Saturday against Loyola, blanking the Ramblers over seven innings for the first complete game shutout by a Bradley pitcher since she had one against Northern Iowa (4/26/14) last spring.
Senior Alyson Spinas-Valainis (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) followed it up with a four-hit shutout of her own in the series finale Sunday for the first complete game shutout of her career. The Braves had back-to-back shutouts at home for the first time since sweeping Indiana State in a doubleheader on April 29, 2009 by identical 2-0 scores.
Senior Shannon King (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) hit safely in all three games against Loyola and capped the series with a 3-for-4 effort with two RBI in Sunday's win. King has moved into sixth in school history with 77 career RBI, passing teammate Alyson Clemente on the all-time RBI list Saturday. She leads the team with eight RBI in MVC play and needs 16 RBI to pass Joanna Pettit for fifth in program history.
Freshman Erika Hansen (Fillmore, Calif./Moorpark) continues to put impressive numbers for the Braves. Her 13 doubles match the Bradley freshman record and are tied for fifth among Bradley season marks, while her 25 walks are the second most by a freshman on The Hilltop and the third best season total in school history.
Fellow freshman Elizabeth Leonard (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East) went 5-for-9 at the plate with three stolen bases in the series against Loyola and is hitting .345 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Sophomore Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) has also been swinging a hot bat. Kapp had a 16-game hit streak snapped Sunday with an 0-for-4 outing. During her hit streak, which is the longest at Bradley since at least 1992, Kapp owned a .410 batting average.
After the midweek tilt with Western Illinois, the Braves will close out a 10-game home stand with a three-game series against Indiana State Friday and Saturday. The three-game series against the Sycamores opens with a 2 p.m. doubleheader Friday at Laura Bradley Park.
