Softball Hosts Illinois State Tuesday

Josh Schwam

Softball 4/18/2022 2:26:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Fresh off a home series sweep of Southern Illinois, Bradley Softball continues a season-long, eight-game home stand with the lone midweek home contests of the season, with the Braves hosting I-74 rival Illinois State Tuesday in a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.

Bradley (20-18 overall, 8-7 MVC) moved into fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with the weekend sweep of Southern Illinois and the Braves now sit one-half game behind Illinois State (18-20 overall, 8-6 MVC), which is tied with Drake for third, as the teams mark the halfway point of the league schedule.

Tuesday's doubleheader will be available on ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for both contests.

The doubleheader against Illinois State will also be Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day with Bradley faculty and staff (must show Bradley University ID) receiving a voucher for a free hot dog and drink.

Bradley holds a 5-4 edge in the series with Illinois State since 2018 and the Braves are 5-3 against the Redbirds at home since 2015. Bradley has won the season series in two of the last three years the teams have met with BU winning two of three games against ISU in 2018 and 2019.

Bradley made late rallies to take all three games of the series against Southern Illinois to earn the first three-game series sweep of the Salukis in program history. The Braves, who won the regular-season series against SIU for the first time since 2012 (2-1), swept Southern Illinois in a regular-season series for the first time dating back to 2000 (2-0). Bradley scored 11 of its 13 runs in the series against SIU in the fifth inning or later and collected a pair of walk-off victories as the Braves won three consecutive one-run games for the first time since 1994 (four straight).

Seniors Lucy Mead and Camryn Monteer both own season-best hit streaks entering Tuesday's doubleheader against Illinois State with Mead collecting hits in eight straight contests and Monteer matching a career-best with a five-game hit streak. In addition to the hit streaks, all five of Bradley's seniors have reached base safely in at least eight consecutive games with Grace French and Keeler van Breusegen both reaching in career-highs of 12 straight outings. Mead is hitting .480 (12-for-25) with three doubles, three runs and five RBI over the last eight games, while Monteer is 9-for-17 (.529) at the plate over the five contests. Over the last eight contests, Bradley's seniors have combined for 45 of the team's 63 hits (71 percent) and the group is hitting .378 (45-of-119) with 26 of the team's 37 runs, eight doubles, two triples, two homers, 21 RBI and a .529 slugging percentage over that eight-game span.

Bradley Softball Head Coach Amy Hayes picked up career victory #500 in Friday's series opener against Southern Illinois, with Bradley earning a walk-off, extra-inning 5-4 victory after rallying from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game with a four-run seventh inning. Currently in her 14th season as Head Coach at Bradley and 21st as a collegiate head coach, Hayes also moved into ninth in career MVC victories over the weekend, passing Northern Iowa's Meredith Bakley (1979-00) on the Valley's league wins list.

Freshman Addie Welsh drove in the game-winning runs in both of Friday's comeback victories against Southern Illinois. With Bradley trailing 4-0 in the opener heading to the seventh, Welsh drew a walk and scored a run to help highlight a four-run seventh that forced extra innings. In the eighth, Welsh capped a 2-for-3 effort with a RBI single to center that plated the game-winning run in a 5-4 victory. In Friday's nightcap, Welsh smacked a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth to give Bradley a 3-2 lead and was part of two of three outs in the seventh to secure the one-run victory. Welsh has driven in the game-winning run in the sixth inning or later in three of Bradley's four home victories (4-2), giving Bradley a walk-off 2-1 win over Loyola with a seventh-inning suicide squeeze back on March 20.

Sophomore Camryn Schaller entered last weekend's series against Southern Illinois with a 7.58 ERA and opponents were hitting .331 before she came out of the bullpen to shut down the Salukis and earn the win in each of the final two games. In Friday's 3-2 win, Schaller came on with two on and one out in the third with SIU leading 2-1 to get a foul out and strikeout. She scattered two hits in 4.2 scoreless innings of work out of the bullpen as she matched a season-best with five strikeouts to pick up the win. In the series finale, Bradley trailed 3-0 with a runner on second and no outs in the first when Schaller took over in the circle to retire the first three batters she faced. She went on to match her five strikeouts from Friday and held the Salukis to four hits and one run in seven innings of work to earn another win as Bradley went on to close out the series with its third one-run victory in a row (5-4). In her 11.2 innings of work against SIU, Schaller boasted a 0.60 ERA and gave up just one run while she limited the Salukis to six hits (one double) and a .162 average. She is 2-1 with a save and a 3.36 ERA in seven appearances out of the bullpen this season.

Bradley follows up the midweek contests against Illinois State with a three-game weekend home series against Evansville Saturday and Sunday to wrap up the eight-game home stand.

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