PEORIA, Ill. – Riding a season-long, five-game win streak, Bradley Softball returns home to open the Missouri Valley Conference portion of the schedule with a three-game series against Valparaiso Saturday and Sunday at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.
Bradley (7-6 overall) has won five straight leading into the three-game series against Valparaiso (4-9 overall) that gets underway with a noon doubleheader Saturday and wraps up Sunday with a single game at 11 a.m.
All three games of the series will be available on ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for the set.
The Braves hold a slim 6-5 edge in the all-time series with Valparaiso, taking two of three games in a home series to open the Valley schedule in 2019. Valpo holds a 4-2 advantage in the series in games since joining the MVC for the 2018 season. The first five meetings between the two programs were all played at neutral sites prior to the start of the 2005 season.
Bradley will carry a five-game win streak into Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader against Valparaiso. The five-game ride is Bradley's best since also taking five straight against the trio of Illinois State (1), Indiana State (3) and Southern Illinois April 23-May 4, 2019. The five straight non-conference wins is the longest non-MVC win streak since the Braves won seven straight against non-Valley opponents from March 2, 2019 through the 2020 season-opening against #20 Arkansas and the five straight wins heading into the Valpo series represent Bradley's longest winning streak heading into its league opener since a 16-game streak leading into the 1994 doubleheader at Illinois State. The 1994 Braves finished 33-8 overall and 9-5 in The Valley.
Junior Stacia Seeton got off to a slow start to the year, but has been Bradley's top hitter during the current five-game win streak. Seeton opened the year going 1-for-15 at the plate in BU's first eight games of the season, but is hitting .375 (6-for-16) with a run, homer and six RBI during her current five-game hit streak. She broke into Bradley's top 10 in career RBI over the weekend in addition to hitting her 27th career home run.
Sophomore Grace French has also helped contribute to Bradley's current win streak, going 2-0 with a save this past weekend at the Buccaneer Classic in Johnson City, Tenn. French, who had a streak of 10 consecutive scoreless innings snapped Sunday in a win at East Tennessee State, opened last weekend's action with a three-hit complete game shutout. French had a pair of complete game shutouts last year, tossing a four-hitter against Saint Peter's and a three-hit shutout against Appalachian State last spring.
Bradley follows up the Valparaiso series with a three-game series at Southern Illinois March 27 & 28 in Carbondale, Ill.
