PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball will spend the final weekend before opening Missouri Valley Conference schedule in Cedar City, Utah, with the Braves taking part in the Beehive Classic hosted by Southern Utah Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 
 
The first trip to the state of Utah will start Friday at 1:30 p.m. (CST) with Bradley (11-9 overall) taking on Utah State (12-4 overall) in the first of two matchups with the Aggies.  Saturday's action includes matchups with Wagner (0-5 overall) at 11 a.m. and a 4 p.m. contest against host Southern Utah (2-11 overall).  Rematches with both Utah State (11 a.m.) and Southern Utah (4 p.m.) Sunday conclude the weekend tournament. 
 
BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all five contests and a video stream of both games against Southern Utah will be available at WatchBigSky.com.
 
Bradley (11-9 overall) has played three consecutive one-run games and the team's last three victories have all been one-run contests.  The 11-9 start for the Braves is the best since 2013 and Bradley is just two non-conference wins short of matching the team's non-conference win total from the last two seasons combined.  With seven non-conference games remaining on the slate, Bradley needs a 4-3 record to match the best non-conference mark under ninth-year head coach Amy Hayes and the Braves have a chance to post the squad's best non-conference record since 2007. 
 
The Braves are 2-2 all-time against this weekend's opponents at the Beehive Classic.  Utah State won the only previous matchup with Bradley, pulling out a 6-2 victory at last year's Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.  Southern Utah was a 1-0 winner over the Braves during the 2000 season in Los Angeles in the only previous meeting between the two programs.  Bradley is 2-0 all-time against Wagner with both games played in Clearwater, Fla.  The Braves topped the Seahawks 2-0 in 2012 in the most recent meeting in addition to an 8-1 victory in 2010. 
 
Senior Jaelen Hull (Clifton, Ill./Bishop McNamara) boasts a perfect 6-0 record with a save in her last 10 appearances and pitched in her 100th game at Bradley last week.  She earned the save in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Delaware to tie the Bradley career saves mark (6) and is one victory from matching her career high of seven wins from both her freshman and sophomore seasons. 
 
Fellow senior Caitlyn McCarron (Dallas, Ore./Dallas) continues to pace Bradley offensively after hitting .417 last week at the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn., and owns the top batting average in the Missouri Valley Conference at .491.  McCarron paces the Braves with eight doubles, 12 extra-base hits and 17 RBI.
 
Senior Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) brings a six-game hit streak into the weekend and has reached base safely in a career-best 27 consecutive games dating back to last season.  Kapp has swiped 19 bases this season for the eighth-best season total in school history and needs just four hits to pass Bradley all-time steals leader Tara Pearson (1994-97) for fifth in career hits on The Hilltop. 
 
Junior Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) is tied for the team lead with eight walks and her 50 career base on balls are now tied for 10th in school history.  Schroeder, who is hitting .323 on the year, is closing in on Bradley's career top 10 in runs (needs five) and would be one of just five players to rank among Bradley's top 10 in both runs and RBI. 
 
Following the weekend trip out west, Bradley will open Missouri Valley Conference play with a three-game series at Southern Illinois (March 18 & 19).