Softball Heads To Florida For Citrus Classic

Softball 2/28/2019 10:09:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball makes what has been almost an annual trip to the state of Florida this weekend for the Citrus Classic, which will be played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Action gets underway Friday with Bradley (5-9 overall) playing the first of two games against Purdue (7-5 overall) at 10 a.m. (CST). The Braves follow up the game against the Boilermakers with a 12:30 p.m. (CST) contest against South Alabama (8-6 overall).

Rematches with both of Friday's opponents are on the schedule for Saturday as Bradley takes on Purdue again at 11 a.m. (CST). Saturday's South Alabama game is slated for 1:30 p.m. (CST). The weekend concludes with a Sunday game against first-time opponent Savannah State (0-8 overall) with first pitch scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (CST).

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for both matchups with Purdue and South Alabama in addition to providing links to an audio stream for both contests against Purdue.

Bradley owns a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series with Purdue. The Braves defeated the Boilermakers 4-0 at last year's Citrus Classic and own a 4-1 neutral site mark vs. Purdue. BU has won the last two in the series and four of the last five from the Boilermakers.

South Alabama claimed the only prior game against Bradley, topping the Braves 2-0 last February at the Citrus Classic.

Savannah State is a first-time opponent for Bradley and the Braves will be playing a team from the MEAC for the first time since a 2013 meeting with Morgan State in Nashville, Tenn.

Bradley returns to Orlando, Fla., for the Citrus Classic for the second consecutive year after playing three ranked teams and going 1-4 at last year's event. Florida has been a frequent stop for the Braves with the 2019 campaign marking the 24th season with a trip to Florida and the Braves have played more games in the Sunshine State (162) than any state other than Illinois. Bradley is 74-87-1 (.460) all-time in the state of Florida, which includes a 14-22 mark under 11th-year head coach Amy Hayes. Eight of the 22 losses during that stretch have come against teams ranked in the top-25.

Bradley currently ranks second the nation in homers per game (1.71) and the Braves have slugged 2.67 home runs per outing over the last nine contests. A quarter of Bradley's hits this season have been homers and 38 of the team's 67 runs (57 percent) have come via the home run.

Senior Allison Apke and junior Kealia Wysocki rank as the top two home run hitters in the MVC on the young season, with Wysocki owning a conference-best seven homers and Apke second with four after the duo each hit one last weekend at the Tennessee Invitational. The only player in school history to hit six or more homers in three different seasons, Wysocki is sixth in the nation in total homers and 10th in the country in home runs per game. Apke, who has missed three games due to injury, is averaging 0.36 homers per contest to rank 35th nationally. Wysocki's seven home runs on the year are one short of ranking among the top 10 season totals in Bradley history and she is second in career homers at Bradley with 20, one from tying Alyson Clemente's (2012-16) school record of 21. Apke is third in career home runs at Bradley with 19 in her two-plus seasons.

Kealia Wysocki has also collected two doubles with nine of her 12 hits on the year going for extra bases. She ranks 31st in the country with a .921 slugging percentage and has helped the Braves rank 32nd as a team with a .510 slugging percentage. Forty-one percent of Bradley's hits this season have been extra-base hits after the Braves going for extra bases with just 32 percent of its hits in 2018 in a season in which the team set school season records for both doubles and homers.

Senior Gabby Stoner and sophomore Stacia Seeton both rank among the MVC leader in walks with the pair both owning nine free passes. As a team, Bradley has averaged 3.14 base on balls per outing after collecting 2.74 walks per game in 2018. The Braves have also been hit by a pitch a total of nine times, with Seeton plunked a team-high three times.

Bradley follows up the weekend trip to Florida with a doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, March 9.

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