PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball closes out a season-opening stretch in which the Braves will have played 32 road or neutral site games with a three-game series at Evansville Saturday and Sunday. The Braves and Purple Aces open the series Saturday with a 10 a.m. doubleheader before wrapping up the series Sunday with a single game at noon.
One of three Missouri Valley Conference teams yet to a play a home game, Bradley (15-14 overall, 1-2 MVC) last opened a season with 32 games away from home in 2014 (34). The Braves have been up to the challenge, however, with 15 road/neutral victories marking the most since that same 2014 season (21), which included 18 regular-season road/neutral wins. This season's 11 neutral site victories are the most since 2013 and Bradley has its best neutral site winning percentage since a 5-2 neutral record in 2008.
All three games of the series at Evansville will be available on ESPN3 as part of The Valley On ESPN3 and can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. In addition, BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three contests.
Bradley holds a 35-33 lead in the all-time series with Evansville after taking two of three home games from the Purple Aces last season. The Braves are 9-1 in the last 10 games in the series, which includes a perfect 4-0 road record during that stretch. Ninth-year Bradley head coach
Amy Hayes, who is a 1992 Evansville alum, is 14-8 with the Braves against her alma mater and 6-5 in road contests in the series.
Evansville (11-12 overall, 3-0 MVC) swept Loyola at home to open MVC play and the Purple Aces have won five consecutive games heading into the weekend. Six of Evansville's 12 losses are against teams ranked or receiving votes in the latest NFCA Top 25. The Purple Aces are second among MVC schools in the latest RPI report at 73rd.
Senior
Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) went 1-for-3 in Wednesday's game at Illinois to extend her hit streak to 15 games, which is the second longest streak in program history behind her own school record 16-game hit streak in 2015. Kapp needs two stolen bases to break the MVC stolen base record of 92 set by Amy Pierce of Drake (2011-14). Since a 5-for-19 start to the year, Kapp is hitting .531 (48-for-81) with 25 runs and 28 steals in the last 23 games.
In addition to the steals mark, Kapp is quickly closing in on Bradley's career hits record. She is currently tied with Bradley Hall of Fame member Kim Suffield for second in school history with 203 hits and is eight from breaking the school mark of 210 career hits held by Katie Kiss (1997-2000). In nine career games against Evansville, Kapp owns a .560 (14-for-25) average with 11 runs, eight stolen bases, one double and a pair of triples.
Fellow senior
Caitlyn McCarron (Dallas, Ore/Dallas) has homered in back-to-back contests, hitting a solo shot Wednesday night at Illinois. McCarron has driven in 10 runs in the last nine games and her 40 hits this spring match her career total from her first three seasons combined.
Following the weekend series at Evansville, Bradley will play 19 of the final 22 regular-season games in the state of Illinois. The Braves will host Missouri State April 1 & 2 at Petersen Hotels Field located at the Louisville Slugger Complex in the first home series of 2017.
