Softball Closes Road Swing With Series At Drake

Josh Schwam

Softball 4/7/2022 2:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- After back-to-back weekend series in the state of Indiana, Bradley Softball heads to Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend to wrap up a nine-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing with a three-game series at Drake Saturday and Sunday.

The Braves (17-15 overall, 5-4 MVC) head into the weekend series against the Bulldogs (9-20 overall, 3-5 MVC) coming off the first three-game MVC road series sweep since 2019 and are tied with Evansville and Indiana State for third in the league standings. Drake has played five home games to date and split a doubleheader at Illinois State Tuesday after taking one of three games last weekend in a home series against Southern Illinois.

All three games of the series will be available on ESPN3 with the teams kicking off the set Saturday with a noon doubleheader at Buel Field. The series concludes Sunday with a single game at noon.

The Braves won two of three games against the Bulldogs last year, but Drake owns a 65-32-1 advantage in the all-time series, which includes a 32-11 advantage in games played in Des Moines, Iowa. Bradley had its biggest offensive series of the 2021 season against Drake, outscoring the Bulldogs 27-17 to close out the regular season last spring. In its last nine games against Drake, Bradley has averaged 5.2 runs per game.

The nine-game MVC road swing marks the first time Bradley will play nine consecutive Valley road games since 2014. That stretch in 2014 featured games at Oklahoma and Tulsa after the Braves opened what turned out to be an 11-game road swing with a doubleheader at Missouri State. Bradley will play nine straight road games against Valley opponents without any non-conference games in the mix for the first time going back to 1994 (10-game MVC road swing).

Senior Grace French had three multi-hit games last week and brings a season-best five-game hit streak into this weekend's series at Drake. French is hitting a team-best .393 in MVC play (11-for-28) and boasts a .714 slugging percentage along with a .485 on base percentage in league action. In addition to her work at the plate, French is 3-2 with a 2.24 ERA and three complete game efforts (34.1 IP) against Valley foes this spring. French, who has more RBI this season 21 than she did her first three years combined (20), hit .257 in non-conference games this year and was 2-5 with a 3.09 ERA in non-MVC contests. During her current five-game hit streak, French owns a .563 average (9-for-16) with three doubles and two homers.

Freshman Abbott Badgley went 5-for-8 with two runs and four RBI and French was 6-for-11 with four runs and two RBI, in addition to going 2-0 with a 2.69 ERA as the duo helped Bradley sweep the weekend road series at Valparaiso. The Braves swept a three-game MVC road series for the first time since taking all three contests of a series at Loyola on March 31 & April 1 during the 2019 campaign. Bradley is 4-2 in Valley road games to mark the team's most league road victories since 2019 (8-4). With eight league road games remaining, the Braves need just two road victories for just the sixth season in program history with six or more conference road wins (2019 - 8, 2014 - 9, 2002 - 7, 1994 - 6 & 1986 - 6).

French was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday after helping Bradley to a sweep of Valparaiso. French hit a team-best .571 in four games (8-for-14), slugging three doubles and one homer while helping Bradley to a 3-1 record. She drove in two and scored five runs in the four contests and stole a pair of bases, while boasting a .625 OBP and 1.000 slugging percentage. In addition, she was 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA in three appearances (18.1 innings pitched). French had three multi-hit games in Bradley's four road outings and reached base 11 times in her 16 plate appearances. Bradley has won four MVC Player or Newcomer of the Week honors this season, the most for the Braves in a single season since earning two Valley Player of the Week awards and three Valley Newcomer of the Week honors during the 2018 campaign.

After the weekend series at Drake, Bradley returns to Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex for the first time in nearly four weeks with the Braves opening a season-long, eight-game home stand with a three-game series against Southern Illinois April 15 & 16.

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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 Closes Road Swing With Series At Drake

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French

#6 Abbott Badgley

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French

#6 Abbott Badgley