Softball Closes Road Slate At Valparaiso

Duane Zehr

Softball 4/27/2018 11:00:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball closes out the road portion of the 2018 regular-season schedule with a three-game weekend series at Missouri Valley Conference newcomer Valparaiso. The Braves and Crusaders will play a noon doubleheader Saturday, before wrapping up the series with an 11 a.m. contest Sunday.

The weekend series marks the first meeting between Bradley and Valparaiso since a 2-1 BU victory in Cape Girardeau, Mo., in 2004. The Braves hold a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series, with all five previous matchups taking place at neutral sites.

Tuesday night's 6-5 victory at Illinois State moved Bradley (18-25 overall, 7-11 MVC) into a tie with Southern Illinois for sixth in the Valley standings. The Braves are just a half-game behind fifth-place Northern Iowa, which hosts Illinois State this weekend, and two in the win column behind the Redbirds for fourth. Valparaiso (20-21 overall, 7-12) sits a half-game behind Bradley in a tie with Loyola for eighth in the league standings.

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three games of the series and in-game updates are available on twitter by following @BradleySoftball.

Bradley has had a bit of success in the Hoosier State as of late, boasting a 15-4 record in the last 19 games played in Indiana. In fact, the Braves are 20-11 in the state of Indiana under 10th-year head coach Amy Hayes. Bradley has averaged 8.8 runs per game over the last four seasons (12 games) in contests played in Hoosier State. Counting the 2013 series finale at Evansville (an 11-3 BU victory), Bradley has averaged 8.5 runs per contest in the last 19 games played in the state of Indiana. The Braves will play more than three games in the Hoosier State for the first time since 2014 (5-1) when the home series against Evansville was relocated due to weather.

Bradley trailed I-74 rival Illinois State 5-4 heading to the seventh inning of Tuesday's series finale, only to have senior Maria Schroeder hit a two-run homer to help the Braves to a 6-5 victory over the Redbirds. The win gave Bradley a series victory over Illinois State for the second time in three years and marked the first time this season the Braves rallied to win a game in which they trailed heading to the seventh.

Three of the last four games have been tied or one-run contests heading to the seventh and the game-winning or tying run has been at the plate in the seventh in five of the last six contests. Bradley is 3-3 during that stretch. The last time Bradley rallied to win a road game it trailed heading to the seventh was a 6-5 victory at Southern Illinois on March 19, 2017 in which Caitlyn McCarron hit a two-run seventh-inning homer. Schroeder has homered in back-to-back games after going 26 games without a home run and is now tied for second in Bradley history with 16 career home runs.

Freshman Stacia Seeton has homered in three consecutive games and four of the last five outings heading into this weekend's series at Valparaiso. Seeton had a four-game hitless streak prior to hitting a first-inning three-run homer in the second game of the April 19 doubleheader against Illinois State. She is 6-for-16 at the plate since, with one double, four homers, eight RBI and two walks. The last Brave to homer in three consecutive games was current Bradley Assistant Coach Rachel Huggins, who had two streaks of three consecutive games with a home run during the 2016 season.

The Braves follow up the road series at Valparaiso with a three-game home series against Evansville, May 5 & 6 at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Caitlyn McCarron: OF; 5' 9"; Senior; L/R

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

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

Players Mentioned

#3 Caitlyn McCarron
: 5' 9"; Senior; L/R
: OF

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

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

Softball Closes Road Slate At Valparaiso

Players Mentioned

#3 Caitlyn McCarron

#17 Maria Schroeder

#13 Stacia Seeton

Players Mentioned

#3 Caitlyn McCarron

#17 Maria Schroeder

#13 Stacia Seeton