PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball will usher in a new era when the Braves play their first games at their new home this weekend, taking on Missouri State in a three-game series Saturday and Sunday.
 
After playing at Laura Bradley Park since 1994, Bradley will have a new home in the Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex (8400 N. Orange Prairie Road) with Saturday's noon doubleheader against the Bears marking the first games for the Braves at the facility.  Bradley and Missouri State will wrap up the series Sunday with a single game at 11 a.m. 
 
All three games of the series 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.  For ticket information visit - http://www.bubraves.com/sports/2017/3/27/bradley-softball-ticket-information.aspx?id=972
 
Bradley (17-15 overall, 3-3 MVC) is tied with Northern Iowa for sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings after two weeks of play and enter the weekend series one game behind Missouri State (16-11 overall, 4-2 MVC) for third after winning the final two games of last weekend's road series at Evansville.  The Braves have won three of their last four games overall. 
 
The April 1 home opener is the latest Bradley has opened the home schedule since 2014 and will open a stretch in which the Braves will play 19 of the final 22 regular-season games in the state of Illinois.  In fact, 13 of the next 22 games will be played at Petersen Hotels Field. 
 
Bradley enters the weekend series one victory from matching the team's win total for the entire 2016 season and the Braves need just two road victories in the final seven road games remaining on the schedule for the most regular-season victories away from home since 2004 (20). 
 
Senior Caitlyn McCarron was named the MVC Player of the Week Monday after hitting .462 with a double, triple, two home runs, eight RBI and three runs scored in four games last week.  McCarron, who entered the week seventh in the nation with a .484 batting average, has hit three home runs in the last five games and owns a team-best 20 extra-base hits.  Only six players in program history have collected more than 20 extra-base hits in a season. 
 
Fellow senior Kelly Kapp broke the MVC career stolen base record last week, pushing her league-record steal total to 94.  Kapp has a few more records within reach entering the first home games of 2017.  Her 37 stolen bases this spring were tied for the most in the nation through games of March 26 and matched the MVC season record originally set by Missouri State's Kate Madden in 1997.  In addition, Kapp has moved into second in school history with 207 career hits to enter the weekend four hits from breaking the school career record of 210 held by Katie Kiss (1997-00). 
 
Junior Maria Schroeder is in exclusive company of her own as one of four players in school history with 90 career runs and 90 career RBI.  Her 33 RBI this season is second in the MVC to McCarron's 34 and just one from matching her career-best total.  Schroeder moved into Bradley's career top 10 for home runs with the 13th of her career and is currently tied for eighth all-time in homers on The Hilltop.
 
Following the weekend series with Missouri State, Bradley will play the final non-conference game of 2017 Tuesday at SIU Edwardsville (4 p.m.).