PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball will open its longest home stand of the 2016 season after playing 25 of the first 26 games away from home when the Braves host Evansville in a three-game series at Laura Bradley Park Saturday and Sunday. The series against the Purple Aces opens a season-long, seven-game home stand.
A 2-1 series win at Missouri State last weekend, moved Bradley (9-17 overall, 4-2 MVC) into a three-way tie with Northern Iowa and Wichita State for third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings through the first two weekends of league play.
Bradley and Evansville will open the weekend series Saturday with a noon doubleheader and wrap up the weekend with a single game at noon. Links to live stats for all three contests will be available at BradleyBraves.com and a free video stream for the entire series can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/schefftech/live
Free temporary tattoos will be available for all children in attendance and representatives from the Girl Scouts of America will be selling cookies throughout the weekend.
The Braves have played the second fewest home games in the MVC, but will play 12 of the next 15 games at Laura Bradley Park and will play 15 of 19 games at home during a 30-day span starting with Saturday's series opener. After playing the fewest games in March since 2001 (11), Bradley is slated to play its heaviest home April schedule (14 games) since 2000 (16).
Evansville has not played at Laura Bradley Park since 2012 with the 2014 home series moved to Indiana due to inclement weather. The Braves hold a slim 33-32 lead in the all-time series, but Bradley has won seven consecutive matchups and is 11-3 (.785) over the last 14 contests against the Purple Aces. An Evansville alum, Bradley head coach Amy Hayes owns a 12-7 (.632) against her alma mater during her time on The Hilltop.
Senior Rachel Huggins (Mt. Zion, Ill./Mt. Zion) was used primarily as a pinch hitter her first three seasons, collecting 21 hits in 93 at bats heading into her senior season. This spring, Huggins has started 25 of 26 games at designated player and leads the Braves with seven home runs. Thirteen of her 22 hits in 2016 have gone for extra bases after tallying five extra-base hits in her first three years. The seven homers by Huggins is tied for the seventh-best season total in school history and just three short of matching the 2009 school record of 10 set by Alycia Bachkora in 2009.
Junior Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) enters the weekend with a .600 (9-for-15) career average against Evansville with six runs, three RBI and four stolen bases. Kapp swiped two more bases last weekend against Missouri State to push her conference-best steal total to 16. She owns two of the top 10 season steal totals in Bradley history and is the fourth player in program history to swipe 16 or more bases in two different seasons. The last to do so was Katie Kiss (16 in 1998 & 24 in 2000). Kapp has moved into a tie with Tyann Copeland for fourth in school history with 48 career stolen bases.
Senior Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) became the third player in school history with at least 90 career RBI and 90 or more runs. She enters the home stand fifth in school history 99 career RBI. Natalie Quinn and recent Bradley Hall of Fame inductee Julie Jehle, who both played from 1993-96, are the only other individuals in school history with 90 at least 90 runs and 90 RBI.
Bradley will host SIU Edwardsville Tuesday, April 5 at 4 p.m. at Laura Bradley Park in the final non-conference game of 2016 to continue the seven-game home stand.
