Softball Hosts SIU Edwardsville Wednesday Afternoon

Duane Zehr, Bradley University ITPS

Softball 4/10/2018 11:00:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball closes out the non-conference schedule against in-state foe SIU Edwardsville for the third consecutive season, hosting the Cougars Wednesday in a 4 p.m. contest at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.

The Braves (15-19 overall) took two of three games from Indiana State in a weekend road series to wrap up a six-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing and will be opening a stretch in which they will play nine of the final 16 regular-season games at home.

SIU Edwardsville (14-11 overall) has had five consecutive games cancelled because of weather and the Cougars have been idle since splitting a doubleheader at Belmont back on March 31 in Nashville, Tenn. Bradley and SIUE have split the last two meeting with the Cougars winning last season's matchup in Edwardsville, Ill., and the Braves posting a 7-2 victory over SIUE on April 5, 2016 in the last meeting in Peoria. Wednesday's outing will mark the latest Bradley will conclude the non-conference slate since 2015.

BradleyBraves.com will provide a link to live stats for Wednesday's game which is the final of three midweek non-conference home games for the Braves. Bradley has not played three midweek non-conference home games since 2005 and the Braves are second in the MVC with 11 home games to date.

Sophomore Allison Apke hit her team-best 10th home run of the season over the weekend and is now tied with Jaymee Lawton of Valparaiso for the most home runs in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. Just the third player in program history to hit 10 or more homers in a season, Apke's 10 home runs is tied for the second-best season total in school history and her career total of 13 dingers is tied for the ninth among Bradley career marks. She has hit one homer in each of the first four MVC series this spring.

In addition to Apke's power, Bradley has a pair of freshmen with four or more home runs for just the second time in school history with Stacia Seeton owning five home runs and Jillian Navarro adding four of her own. As a team, Bradley has a league-best 31 homers which ranks as the third best season total in school history. Averaging 0.91 homers per game, the Braves are on pace to break the school season home run record of 41 set in 2014.

Three of Bradley's top five hitters in Missouri Valley Conference play are freshmen and four of the five Braves hitting .300 or better in league action are underclassmen. In fact, Bradley's four freshmen have combined to hit .344 (33-for-96) with 11 doubles, and two homers against Valley opponents. As a group, the freshmen have 11 of the team's 15 doubles in MVC contests and have scored 19 of the team's 51 runs in addition to notching 17 of Bradley's 45 RBI. Seeton's .370 average this season would rank second among Bradley freshman marks behind Sharon Kempf's .389 average in 1988. Overall, freshmen are hitting a combined .320 on the year with 20 doubles, 11 homers, 52 runs and 51 RBI this spring.

Seeton swept Missouri Valley Conference Player & Newcomer of the Week honors announced Monday after helping Bradley take two of three games at Indiana State. After starting 28 games in the outfield or designated player, she moved to third base for the weekend series and had multiple hits in all three contests, going 6-for-11 at the plate (.545) with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored in the series. The MVC Player of the Week honor is the first for a Bradley freshman since April 6, 2015 and Seeton garnered MVC Newcomer of the Week honors for the second time this spring.

Bradley will follow up the midweek home game with a three-game series at Missouri State Saturday and Sunday, opening the set with a noon doubleheader Saturday in Springfield, Mo.

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