PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball has won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title two of the last three times the event was held in the state of Illinois and the Braves will hope history is on their side when they face #8 seed Missouri State Thursday at 11 a.m. in the opening game of the 2016 MVC Tournament in Carbondale, Ill.
The Braves (18-29 overall, 12-14 MVC) tied Evansville for fifth in the regular-season standings and are the #5 seed for the eight-team, single-elimination tournament after taking two of three games from the Purple Aces during the regular season.
Missouri State (21-29 overall, 10-14 MVC) tied Illinois State for seventh during the regular season, but the Bears earned the #8 seed as Bradley faces MSU in its MVC Tournament opener for the sixth time in the team's last seven appearances. The Braves took two of three games at Missouri State back on March 25 & 26 in Springfield, Mo., to claim the regular-season series.
The winner of Thursday's tournament-opening 11 a.m. game will advance to Thursday's 4 p.m. second round game against #4 seed and tournament-host Southern Illinois (32-18 overall, 15-10 MVC).
All seven games of the 2016 MVC Championship will be available on ESPN3 and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats throughout the three-day event.
Bradley is 6-4 against Missouri State since the start of 2014 and 9-8 vs. the Bears since 2012. Missouri State has been the most common opponent for the Braves in the MVC Tournament with Thursday's contest marking the 15th time the two squads have met in the post season. The Bears are 8-6 in MVC Tournament matchups, but Bradley has won four of the last six post-season meetings.
Both of Bradley's MVC Tournament titles have come when the event has been held in the state of Illinois, with the Braves claiming the 2009 event they hosted in East Peoria, Ill., and also winning the crown in 2014 in Normal, Ill. Bradley is 22-16 (.579) in Valley Tournament games played in the Land of Lincoln, which includes runner-up finishes in 1985 (Macomb, Ill.), 1986 (East Peoria, Ill.) and 1996 (Normal, Ill.).
For a second consecutive year Bradley turned in a MVC record for doubles in league play. In 2015, the Braves tied Illinois State's 2002 MVC record with 42 two-baggers in Valley action. This spring, Bradley topped the mark with a conference record 44 doubles with four individuals collecting five or more doubles against MVC pitching. In addition, the Braves need three doubles to break the team season record of 71 set last year and Bradley's 11 triples are the most since 2011 (12). The Braves own a school record .450 slugging percentage to surpass the previous mark of .410 set in 2014 and Bradley's 36 home runs rank as the second-best total in school history.
Junior Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) went 4-for-4 in last year's MVC Tournament opening round game and has been on a hot streak, hitting .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles, one triple and six runs scored over the last six games. Kapp is the fourth player in MVC history with 25 or more steals in two different seasons and her 140 hits over the past two seasons are the most in a two-year period in school history.
Senior Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) has started 207 consecutive games dating back to the second game of her career for the second longest streak in school history. Bradley Hall of Fame member Kim Suffield is the only player in school history with a longer streak, starting all 210 games of her career from 1997-2000. Clemente has five career RBI and two homers in four career MVC Tournament contests.
For more information about the 2016 MVC Tournament visit - http://www.mvc-sports.com/softball/news/2015-16/8783/2016-softball-championship/#.VzIim9H2a9J
