Softball Opens Nine-Game Road Swing With Series At Indiana St.

Josh Schwam

Softball 3/24/2022 10:15:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Fresh off the first home games of the 2022 season, Bradley Softball is back on the road this weekend, kicking off a nine-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing in Terre Haute, Ind., with a three-game series at Indiana State Saturday and Sunday.

The Braves (13-13 overall, 1-2 MVC) open the three-game series with the Sycamores (14-11 overall, 2-1 MVC) Saturday with a 11 p.m. (CDT) single game at Price Field. The teams conclude the series Sunday with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. (CDT). BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three contests. No video stream will be available for the weekend series.

Bradley won three of four games against the Sycamores last season, including a MVC Tournament matchup, and the Braves are 7-1 in the last eight meetings with Indiana State. This weekend's road series marks the first time Bradley will play in Terre Haute, Ind., since 2018. Overall, the Braves own a 70-36 lead in the all-time series and Bradley has managed at least a split of the season series in 13 of the last 14 seasons. The Braves are 26-10 against Indiana State under Head Coach Amy Hayes, which includes a 9-5 road mark. Bradley is 27-14 all time in road games in the series.

The Braves will play their next six games in the state of Indiana with Bradley following up the three-game series at Indiana State with a three-game series at Valparaiso (April 2 & 3). The Braves have had success in the Hoosier State despite going 1-4 in Indiana last season, with BU owning a 17-10 record in its last 27 games played in Indiana (since 2014) and posting a 23-15 mark in the Hoosier State since 2010. The nine-game MVC road swing marks the first time the Braves will play nine straight Valley games on the road in the same season since 2014.

Freshman Abbott Badgley scattered six hits in a complete game victory against Loyola Sunday, earning her team-best sixth victory of the year after helping the Braves to the 2-1 win. Badgley is now 5-1 in her last seven appearances with a 1.06 ERA over that stretch. In fact, she has allowed just one earned run and a total of three runs in her last 18.0 innings of work. Badgley's six wins are the most by a Bradley freshman since senior Grace French was 6-4 as a frosh in 2019 and matches the most victories by a BU freshman dating back to seven wins by Megan Mahaffy in 2016. Only eight Bradley freshman have had as many as seven wins as a rookie and Badgley is two victories from becoming just the sixth Brave to win eight or more games as a frosh with the last in 2006 (Ashley Birdsong - 16).

Bradley has played a league-high 26 games through March 20 and the Braves are tied with Indiana State for the most wins away from (12) in the MVC through Sunday's action. In fact, Bradley already has more victories away from home (12) this spring than the Braves had during the entire 2021 campaign (7). The only other Valley teams with 10 or more wins away from home through games of March 20 in addition to Indiana State were Evansville (11) and Illinois State (10). Last weekend's series against Loyola marked the halfway point of the regular-season schedule for the Braves.

Bradley played eight non-conference games against teams in the top 100 of the latest RPI (March 21), with only four MVC teams playing more contests against teams in the top 100. The only Valley squads with more non-conference games this year against top 100 squads are Illinois State (11), Missouri State (10), Drake (9) and Northern Iowa (9). Last year, the Braves finished the year with 18 games against teams in the top 100 of the RPI at the end of the 2021 season.

After the series at Indiana State, Bradley returns to the Hoosier State for a three-game series at Valparaiso April 2 & 3.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French: P/UT; 5' 4"; Senior; R/R

#6 Abbott Badgley: RHP; 5' 9"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French
: 5' 4"; Senior; R/R
: P/UT

#6 Abbott Badgley
: 5' 9"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

Softball Opens Nine-Game Road Swing With Series At Indiana St.

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French

#6 Abbott Badgley

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French

#6 Abbott Badgley