Softball Opens Road Swing At Illinois St.

Softball 4/23/2018 5:25:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball opens the final road swing of the 2018 regular season with its last midweek contest of the year Tuesday at I-74 rival Illinois State. First pitch of the rubber match of the three-game series between the Braves and Redbirds is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Marian Kneer Stadium in Normal, Ill.

The teams played a doubleheader last Thursday at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex, with Bradley (17-25 overall, 6-11 MVC) rebounding from a 3-2 loss in the opener to top Illinois State (18-27 overall, 9-9 MVC) by a score of 6-3 in the nightcap.

The Braves enter the final seven games of the MVC schedule one game out of sixth and just two in the win column back of fifth-place Northern Iowa.

Tuesday's game will be streamed on ESPN's new subscription service ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for the matchup with the Redbirds.

Bradley belted nine home runs in five games last week, pushing the team's league-leading home run total to 42 to break the previous school season record of 41 homers set in 2014. For just the second time in program history and first time since 2014, the Braves have three players with six or more homers in a season.

Sophomore Allison Apke's league-leading 11 home runs is the second-best season total in school history behind current assistant coach Rachel Huggins school season record of 12 set in 2016. Apke also has 40 RBI on the year to tie for the fifth-best season total in Bradley history.

Freshman Stacia Seeton, who was named MVC Newcomer of the Week Monday afternoon, has left the yard in three of the last four games and broke the Bradley freshman home run record with her eighth dinger of the year Sunday against Southern Illinois. In addition to the homers, the Braves have a conference-best 63 doubles which is nine short of breaking the school season doubles mark of 71 set in 2015 and matched in 2016.

Senior Maria Schroeder joined elite company over the weekend, breaking into the top 20 in MVC history in both career runs and career RBI. Currently tied for 16th with 132 career runs and tied for 20th with 123 career RBI, Schroeder is one of just three players in league history to rank among the top 20 in both categories, joining Wichita State's Britnee Barnett (2005-08) and Evansville's Jessica Huff (1998-01) on the list. Barnett was a three-time First-Team All-Valley selection and Huff was a two-time MVC Player of the Year honoree.

Schroeder leads the Valley with 35 runs scored and her .371 batting average in 2018 ranks sixth in the MVC. Currently fourth in school history with 197 career hits, Schroeder broke the Bradley career walks record last week in addition to moving into second in school history in both runs scored and RBI.

Apke brings a career-best 14-game hit streak into the week, but the slugger recently entered an exclusive group. The first player in program history to collect 10 doubles, 11 homers, 40 RBI and 24 or more walks in a season; Apke is the 11th individual in Missouri Valley Conference history to reach those marks. Of the previous 10 times a Valley player has reached those numbers, five have gone on to earn MVC Player of the Year honors and Apke is just the fourth underclassmen to put up those stats in a season, joining a list which includes Wichita State's Paige Luellen (2016), Jordan de los Reyes of Illinois State (2015) and Casy Williams of Wichita State during her 2014 MVC Player of the Year campaign.

Bradley follows up Tuesday's contest at Illinois State with a weekend series at MVC newcomer Valparaiso. The Braves and Crusaders open the three-game series with a noon doubleheader Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

#16 Allison Apke: IF; 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R

#17 Maria Schroeder: UTL/C; 5' 6"; Senior; R/R

#13 Stacia Seeton: IF; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#16 Allison Apke
: 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R
: IF

#17 Maria Schroeder
: 5' 6"; Senior; R/R
: UTL/C

#13 Stacia Seeton
: Freshman; R/R
: IF

Softball Opens Road Swing At Illinois St.

Players Mentioned

#16 Allison Apke

#17 Maria Schroeder

#13 Stacia Seeton

Players Mentioned

#16 Allison Apke

#17 Maria Schroeder

#13 Stacia Seeton