Softball Hosts Illinois St. Tuesday To Open Home Stand

Softball 4/22/2019 2:54:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- After going 4-2 during a six-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing and playing 10 of the last 13 games away from home, Bradley Softball returns to Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex to host Illinois State in a Tuesday doubleheader. First pitch of the final midweek games on the 2019 season for the Braves is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Bradley (23-17 overall, 10-7 MVC) took the season's first meeting from Illinois State (12-30 overall, 6-8 MVC), earning its third consecutive win over the Redbirds with an 8-4 victory back on April 10 in Normal, Ill. The Braves have won the regular-season series from Illinois State in two of the last three years, with the teams splitting the last 10 games.

The second game of Tuesday's doubleheader will be carried on ESPN+, while BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for both contests.

With only two weekends of the regular season left, Bradley finds itself in fourth in the MVC standings at 10-7. The Braves are just two games back of Southern Illinois for second, however, with the two teams wrapping up the regular season against each other schedule May 4 & 5 in Carbondale.

Illinois State is the only Valley team to play fewer home games (6) than Bradley's eight (3-5) home contests heading into the five-game home stand for BU which includes the weekend series against Indiana State.

Senior Gabby Stoner made her return to the lineup for the series finale at Northern Iowa Saturday after missing 20 games due to injury. Stoner started 18 of the first 19 games of the season and was hitting a team-best .415 (22-for-53) with 16 runs and seven RBI before missing the first six weeks of the conference schedule. She hit .357 (10-for-28) with a .455 on base percentage in the final 10 games of 2018 after moving from the infield to the outfield. In 30 career games playing in the outfield, she is 32-for-83 (.386) at the plate with 19 runs, eight RBI, seven doubles, one triple, one homer, 14 walks and 11 strikeouts.

Junior Kealia Wysocki slugged her 10th home run of the season Saturday at Northern Iowa to tie fellow junior Allison Apke for the team lead. Bradley has two individuals with 10 or more homers for the first time in program history. The Braves have hit at least one home run in 14 of the last 16 games and 19 of the last 22 contests.

In fact, Bradley's 55 homers rank as the 13th-best season total in MVC history and the Braves need just four dingers for the highest home run total by a Valley squad since the 2015 Illinois State team crushed 70 to tie the second-best season total in league history.

Bradley won the series opener at Northern Iowa last Friday 9-1 in five innings to earn its 11th consecutive road victory before the Panthers took the second game of the doubleheader 11-2. With a 12-4 road record, Bradley is one of 19 teams in the nation with at least 12 road wins and one of just five squads with nine or more true road victories vs. home wins through games of April 21. The Braves have 12 true road wins for the first time since 1995 (12-8), which is also the last time Bradley had a winning road record.

The Braves rank 12th in the nation in home runs per game through April 21, averaging 1.38 per contest and Bradley has six individuals with five or more homers. Apke and Wysocki are tied for third in the MVC with 10 homers each, while sophomore Stacia Seeton is tied for sixth with eight dingers. Bradley is one of 18 teams in the country to have six players with five or more homers through games of April 21 with 12 of those teams in last week's USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and an additional two teams receiving votes.

Bradley will close out the regular-season home schedule with a weekend series against Indiana State. Saturday's noon doubleheader will be Alumni Day with Bradley's 2009 MVC Tournament Championship team recognized between games. Sunday will be Senior Day with seniors Katie Habryle, Julie Kestas, Megan Mahaffy and Gabby Stoner recognized prior to the 11 a.m. contest.

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