PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball makes its first trip to the state of California since 2014 and the first of two trips to the state this season, for this weekend's Golden State Classic, which will be held in Lake Elsinore, Calif.
The Braves (2-3 overall) kick off the weekend event, which will be held at Rosetta Canyon Sports Park, Friday with a noon (CST) game against UC Davis (4-1 overall) and conclude the first day of tournament play with a 2:30 p.m. (CST) contest vs. San Jose State (2-2 overall).
Saturday starts with an 11:30 a.m. (CST) matchup against Army (4-1 overall) and the day also includes a 4:30 p.m. (CST) outing against Sacramento State (4-1 overall). The weekend wraps up Sunday with an 11:30 a.m. (CST) game against Hawaii (2-3 overall).
Bradley owns a combined 7-2 all-time record against this weekend's opponents with the Braves facing a trio of first-time opponents in UC Davis, Sacramento State and Hawaii. BU is 2-1 against San Jose State after last year's 14-6 win in Las Cruces, N.M., in which Bradley hit a school record eight home runs. All three previous meetings with the Spartans have been at neutral sites. Bradley will face Army for the first time since 2005 and seventh time overall. The Braves are 5-1 all-time vs. Army with all six previous games in the series played in Florida.
Bradley has seven California natives on the roster, but the Braves will be visiting the Golden State for the first time since 2014 when BU played in the Stanford Invitational. The trip to California is the fifth in program history and the first of two trips to the Golden State this season with BU also scheduled to play in the Gaucho Classic in Santa Barbara, Calif., Feb. 28 through March 1. Overall, Bradley is 6-13 in the state of California after posting a 2-3 record at the 2014 Stanford Invitational, which included a pair of wins against Pacific. Five of Bradley's 13 losses in California were against nationally ranked teams
Bradley opened the 2020 season with a 3-2 victory over #20/24 Arkansas for BU's first win against a nationally ranked team since a 2-1 win at then 16th-ranked Louisiana during the 2017 season. The Braves have collected five wins against nationally ranked teams under 12th-year head coach Amy Hayes vs. just one victory over a ranked opponent prior to her arrival. Bradley has played a total of 45 games against top-25 squads during Hayes' tenure compared to a total of 22 such games in the 30 years prior to her arrival on The Hilltop for the 2009 season.
Reseda, Calif., native Emma Jackson is Bradley's most experienced pitcher and combined to go 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA as she held hitters to a .180 batting average in three appearances at the season-opening Troy Cox Classic. She tossed 16.2 of Bradley's 26.2 innings during the opening weekend and was the winning pitcher in the season-opening 3-2 win against #20/24 Arkansas. Jackson held the Razorbacks, who averaged 8.8 runs per game in their five games at the Troy Cox Classic, to just one earned run in the 3-2 victory. She capped the weekend with a complete game two-hit shutout of UTEP. In six career appearances at the Troy Cox Classic, Jackson is 3-1 with a 2.99 ERA.
Junior Stacia Seeton hit a pair of home runs during the season-opening Troy Cox Classic and hit .364 during the opening weekend of the 2020 campaign. Seeton has certainly had a great deal of success in Las Cruces, N.M., going 11-for-26 (.423) at the plate with 10 runs and eight RBI in 10 career games. In fact, five of her 11 hits at the Troy Cox Classic have been home runs. Seeton is now alone in third in Bradley history with 23 career home runs.
Senior Sydney Young had a strong start to her final season on The Hilltop, collecting a hit in each of Bradley's first five games. Young went 5-for-12 (.417) with a double, four runs scored and one RBI at the Troy Cox Classic and brings a career-best five-game hit streak into this weekend's Golden State Classic. Young had never had a hit streak longer than three games prior to her current five-game streak. She has scored a run in eight of her last 10 games dating back to last season.
Bradley follows up the weekend trip to California with the team's first trip to the state of South Carolina since 1999 with the Braves taking part in the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C., Feb. 20-22.
