PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball will close out a season-long, seven-game home stand with a three-game series against Northern Iowa, taking on the Panthers in a noon doubleheader Saturday at Laura Bradley Park and wrapping up the weekend Sunday with a single game at noon.
The Braves are 3-1 to start the seven-game home stand, having won each of the last three games after posting a 7-2 victory against SIU Edwardsville Tuesday to finish off the non-conference portion of the schedule. Bradley is 8-2 in its last 10 April home contests dating back to last season and the Braves own a 16-10 (.615) home record in the month of April since 2014.
A free video stream of Saturday's doubleheader will be available and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three contests.
Northern Iowa (25-11 overall, 4-4 MVC) leads the all-time series with Bradley, but the Braves have won the regular-season series each of the last two season and the Braves are 4-2 vs. the Panthers during that span. UNI is fifth in the MVC standings at 4-4 after dropping a pair of home games to Indiana State last weekend.
Bradley (12-18 overall, 6-3 MVC) has won five of its last six and is 7-2 since dropping the Missouri Valley Conference opener in extra innings at Indiana State. Currently tied with Wichita State for second in the Valley standings at 6-3, the Braves are off to a 6-3 start to conference play for the fifth time in school history and will try to open league action with a 7-3 record or better for just the fourth time.
Senior Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) went 3-for-3 with home run and four RBI Tuesday against SIU Edwardsville and is now 9-for-17 (.529) with three runs, four doubles, one homer and seven RBI in four home games this spring. Clemente had never hit a home run at Laura Bradley Park prior to Tuesday's contest. Over the last 10 games, she is 17-for-34 with 10 runs, six doubles, three homers and 14 RBI.
Clemente now has a team-high 31 RBI and is three short of pushing her season total into the top 10 in school history. She also enters the weekend series fifth all-time with 105 career RBI and is two from passing Brittany Mynsberge for fourth in Bradley history.
Junior Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) has had a great deal of success at Laura Bradley Park during her time on The Hilltop, boasting a .405 average with 23 runs and 19 stolen bases in 22 career home games.
Sophomore Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) took over as Bradley's starting catcher 11 games ago and is hitting .433 with 10 runs and six RBI since moving behind the plate. Fellow sophomore Elizabeth Leonard (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East) moved from the outfield to second base at that same point and boasts with a .395 average with 11 runs and nine RBI during that 11-game stretch. The pair have helped the Braves to a 7-4 mark with two of the four coming in extra innings.
After wrapping up the home stand, Bradley will travel to Wichita, Kan., for a three-game series April 16 & 17 at Wichita State.
