Softball Closes Regular Season With Weekend Series At SIU

Softball 5/2/2019 11:38:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball has already locked up its best Missouri Valley Conference winning percentage since 1994, but the third-place Braves enter the final weekend of the regular season with a chance to finish as high as second in the league standings heading into a series at second-place Southern Illinois.

The three-game series at Charlotte West Stadium in Carbondale, Ill., kicks off with a noon doubleheader Saturday and concludes Sunday with a single game at 11 a.m.

Bradley (27-18 overall, 14-8 MVC) is just one back of second-place Southern Illinois (31-11 overall, 15-5 MVC) in the win column entering the showdown for second place. The Braves would need a three-game sweep of the Salukis to take second, while Bradley's magic number to finish ahead of either fourth-place Northern Iowa and fifth-place Missouri State sits at two (assuming all three-game series are played) for each squad.

All three games of the weekend series will be available on ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three contests.

Sitting one victory short of matching the school record for MVC wins in a season of 15 last done in 2015 (15-12) at 14-8, the Braves have guaranteed their best league winning percentage since at least the 1994 campaign when Bradley went 9-5 (.643). In addition, the Braves will be trying to secure their first top-three conference finish since that same 1994 season (2nd).

Bradley is averaging a league-best 6.00 runs per game to rank 27th in the nation in runs per game through games of April 28. With at least four games remaining, the Braves have already scored a school record 270 runs and are averaging 5.68 runs per contest in MVC contests this season. Bradley has a school record nine run-rule victories this season and scored 10 or more runs a school record nine times after Sunday's 10-2 victory over Indiana State. This weekend's series between Bradley and Southern Illinois features the top two scoring teams in the MVC with the Salukis 33rd in the nation at 5.76 runs per contest. Bradley and SIU would be the top scoring squads in MVC history with both currently averaging more than the MVC season record for runs per game of 5.71 set by Wichita State in 2014.

Bradley already has its most victories (27) since finishing the 2014 season, which included a Valley Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance, with 27 wins and the Braves have 27 wins during the regular season for the first time since closing the 2004 campaign with a 29-29 record. The last 30-win season in program history was 1995 (35-20-1).

Juniors Allison Apke and Kealia Wysocki both tied the Bradley season home run record with their 12th dingers of the year Sunday against Indiana State, while sophomore Stacia Seeton had a pair of homers in Sunday's first game against the Sycamores to push her season total to 10. Bradley has three individuals with 10 or more homers for the first time in program history. Between 2003 and 2010, five different Valley teams had three players with 10 or more homers, with Bradley joining the 2016 Wichita State squad as the only MVC teams to do so since Illinois State in 2010. Bradley's 64 homers are tied for the sixth-best season total in league history and the Braves are one of 12 teams in the nation to have seven different players with at least five homers.

Sophomore Taise Thompson is tied with Apke, who brings a nine-game hit streak and has reached base safely in a career-best 19 consecutive games into the series, for the team lead with 37 RBI after she drove in seven runs in five games last week. For the first time in school history Bradley has four players with 35 or more RBI in the same season with the last MVC team to have four individuals with 35 or more RBI in 2016 (Wichita St.).

Freshman Lucy Mead has scored a Bradley freshman record 40 runs this season, which is tied for sixth among Bradley seasons totals. She owns a team-best 51 hits with only Kim Suffield (62) and Erika Hansen (59) having more than Mead among BU freshmen. In addition, Mead is just the third Bradley player to score 40 runs and drive in at least 20 in a season, joining Natalie Quinn (1996) and Amy Pera (1995).

Following the weekend series at Southern Illinois, Bradley will host the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Championship May 8-11 at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.

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