Softball Opens 2017 At Grand Canyon Kickoff Tournament

Duane Zehr, Bradley University ITPS

Softball 2/9/2017 11:00:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Softball will open a season in Arizona for the seventh consecutive year with the Braves heading to Phoenix, Ariz., for the Grand Canyon Kickoff Tournament Friday through Sunday.

The Braves had started each of the last six seasons at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., but will venture a little further north in the Grand Canyon State to Phoenix to kick off the 2017 campaign. Bradley will play five games against a pair of first-time opponents over the three days, with a pair of contests against Northern Colorado and three games against tournament-host Grand Canyon.

Action gets underway Friday at 1 p.m. (CST) with Bradley taking on Northern Colorado in the first of three scheduled matchups in 2017 vs. the Bears. The Braves will return to the field later that same day against WAC preseason favorite Grand Canyon, which posted a 35-15 record last year, at 6 p.m. (CST).

Saturday features rematches with both squads, starting at 3:30 p.m. (CST) against Grand Canyon and wrapping up with a 6 p.m. (CST) tilt against Northern Colorado. Bradley concludes the trip Sunday at 10 a.m. (CST) with a third outing against Grand Canyon.

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats and in-game updates will be available at Bradley Softball's new twitter account (@BradleySoftball).

Senior Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) helps headline a group of 12 returning letterwinners from last year's team which tied for fifth in the Missouri Valley conference with a 12-14 league record. A preseason All-MVC selection, Kapp was a Third-Team NFCA All-Mideast Region pick last year after hitting .405. She enters the year with a .393 career batting average, which is fourth in MVC history, and she needs just four hits to push her career total (155) among Bradley's career top 10.

In addition to Kapp, Bradley returns a pair of Second-Team All-MVC performers from 2016 in junior catcher/utility Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) and junior infielder Elizabeth Leonard (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East). Schroeder has hit .336 in each of her first two seasons on The Hilltop and her 59 career RBI are the most by a Bradley player through their sophomore season.

Leonard boasted a .305 average in MVC play and drove in 16 runs in league action, while starting all 26 Valley games at second base.

Senior Jaelen Hull (Clifton Park, Ill./Bishop McNamara) is expected to help anchor a Bradley pitching staff which also includes two sophomores and two freshmen. Hull led the Braves in ERA, complete games, shutouts, innings and strikeouts last year. She was sixth in the Valley in strikeouts last season with a career-best 103 and starts the year tied for 10th in school history with 214 career punch outs.

Following the opening weekend trip to Arizona, the Braves will head to Las Cruces, N.M., for the Troy Cox Classic Feb. 17-19 where Bradley will play single games against #15 Tennessee, Northern Colorado, New Mexico State, Oregon State and DePaul.

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