PEORIA, Ill. -- In the midst of arguably the toughest stretch of the season, Bradley Softball will step out of Missouri Valley Conference play to conclude the 2017 non-conference slate Tuesday with a 4 p.m. game against in-state foe SIU Edwardsville. 
 
The Braves (18-17 overall) and Cougars (27-7 overall) will be meeting for the sixth consecutive year after Bradley snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with a 7-2 home victory over SIUE last spring.  A victory Tuesday would give Bradley 15 non-conference victories to match the best non-conference record (2013) under ninth-year head coach Amy Hayes. 
 
BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats and the free video stream provided by the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network.
 
The midweek game at SIU Edwardsville, which is currently 43rd in the latest RPI, marks the fourth of 12 consecutive contests for the Braves against teams in the top 100 of the April 3 RPI report.  Last weekend's series against Missouri State (#92) opened the 12-game stretch which includes a three-game home series against Wichita State (#69), a three-game series at Northern Iowa (#85) and a doubleheader at I-74 rival Illinois State (#64).  Bradley's four wins against top 100 teams rank third in the MVC behind only Illinois State (6) and Northern Iowa (5). 
 
Senior Kelly Kapp broke Bradley's career hits record in Sunday's 9-1 victory over Missouri State in addition to topping the Missouri Valley Conference single season stolen base mark.  Kapp's 211 career hits rank 19th in MVC history and she is just 10 hits from pushing her career total among the top 15 in league history.  She enters the week fifth in the nation with 56 hits and her 38 steals this spring are the most in the nation through games of April 2. 
 
Freshman Kealia Wysocki hit a pinch hit grand slam to help highlight Sunday's victory against Missouri State and her last two hits have been pinch hit homers.  In fact, four of her last five hits have been home runs and six of her 10 hits this season have gone for extra bases.  Wysocki is the eighth freshmen in school history to hit at least four home runs. 
 
Junior Maria Schroeder drove in three runs in Sunday's victory and now has a conference-leading and career-best 36 RBI in 2017.  Schroeder brings a six-game hit streak into Tuesday's contest and has collected hits in 14 of the last 15 games.  She owns a .438 average with 20 RBI over the last 15 games.  Schroeder needs just four RBI to become the fifth player in program history to drive in 40 runs in a season and is five RBI away from 100 for her career. 
 
Following Tuesday's game at SIU Edwardsville, Bradley will return to Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex for a three-game weekend series against Wichita State.  The Braves and Shockers will play an 11 a.m. doubleheader Saturday and wrap up the set Sunday with a single game at 11 a.m.