PEORIA, Ill. -- After going a perfect 5-0 at last weekend's Mardi Gras Classic, Bradley Softball will travel east for the first time in 2017 with a weekend trip to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Tennessee Invitational Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
 
The Braves (9-6 overall) are off to their best start since 2010 and will try to improve on a five-game win streak, which is the team's longest since capping the 2015 regular-season schedule with five consecutive victories, following Sunday's 2-1 victory over #16 Louisiana-Lafayette.
 
Bradley is 8-2 after a 1-4 start to the season and the Braves have already posted their most non-conference victories (9) since 2014.  The last time Bradley won at least 10 non-conference contests was 2013 (15). 
 
Tournament play gets under way for the Braves Friday afternoon with a 1:30 p.m. (CST) matchup against Ohio (8-1 overall) as Bradley tries to improve to 4-0 all-time against the Bobcats.  The second outing of 2017 against 15th-ranked Tennessee (13-2 overall) wraps up the first day at 4 p.m.  The Volunteers have won both previous games against Bradley in the all-time series. 
 
A 10:30 a.m. (CST) game against Southeastern Louisiana (8-7 overall) is the lone contest for the Braves Saturday.  Bradley won the only previous meeting in 2012 at Kennesaw State.  Sunday's action includes a pair of first-time opponents for the Braves in Delaware (8 a.m.) and Jacksonville State (10:30 a.m.). 
 
BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all five games and Friday's matchup against tournament-host Tennessee will be available on ESPN3 and SEC Network+
 
Senior Caitlyn McCarron (Dallas, Ore./Dallas) continues to swing a hot bat for Bradley and is 33rd in the nation with a .512 (22-for-43) average through 15 games.  Her eight extra-base hits have all come in the last 10 contests and match her overall hit total for the entire 2016 season.  McCarron is batting .542 (13-for-42) with runners on base and .471 with runners in scoring position this spring.
 
McCarron has had so many opportunities with runners on, thanks in part to senior Kelly Kapp who has reached to leadoff an inning 73 percent of the time in 2017.  Kapp is fifth in the nation in stolen bases per game and is hitting .588 (20-for-34) with 11 runs and 11 steals over the last nine games.  She scored her 100th career run in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette and is tied for sixth with 180 career hits.  Kapp's .403 batting average would be a MVC career record and she has climbed into fourth in Valley history with 74 career stolen bases.
 
Junior Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) was named the MVC Player of the Week after hitting .438 with two triples, two homers, five runs and eight RBI last weekend.  Schroeder leads the MVC with five doubles and two triples, while 11 of her 17 hits this spring have come with runners in scoring position.  She has moved into ninth in career RBI at Bradley with 72.
 
In the circle, senior Jaelen Hull (Clifton, Ill./Bishop McNamara) is a perfect 5-0 in her last seven appearances and has come out of the bullpen in 11 of 15 games.  She matched her win total from 2016 at five with Sunday's win against Louisiana-Lafayette.  This season only two of 19 inherited runners have scored against Hull, which includes nine runners in scoring position, and she has held teams to an .083 (1-for-12) average with the bases loaded. 
 
After the weekend trip to Knoxville, Tenn., Bradley will make the first trip in program history to Utah for the Beehive Classic in Cedar City, Utah (March 10-12) in the final weekend before opening the Missouri Valley Conference schedule.