Bradley travels to face Illinois State in the final game of its season series.
No stranger to each other, the Braves and Redbirds have met 103 times since 1983, and Illinois State leads the series 76-27. The most recent matchup was April 5, 2023, where the Braves fell the Redbirds 3-6.
WEEKEND INFORMATION
WATCH |
ESPN+ |
TIMES |
Tuesday: 5:00 PM |
LOCATION |
Marian Kneer Stadium | Normal, Ill. |
BRADLEY BRAVES
The Braves are 10-31 overall and 2-12 in conference thus far. The team recently played a series against Drake and were defeated in all three games. Bradley has a quartet of players hitting over .300:
Lauren DeRolf,
Grace French,
Kierston McCoy and
Austin Comstock. French is also tied for first in the NCAA for doubles with 16, sharing the spot with Madyson Peters of Towson. DeRolf and French's names can also be found in multiple top ten categories for statistics in the MVC, including: batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits and RBIs. French,
Bailey Sample and
Abbott Badgley are tied for the team lead in home runs with four each. On the pitching side,
Camryn Schaller leads the Braves with an ERA of 3.21 and is top 10 in strikeouts in the conference (8th, 77).
Jordy van der Werf is tied for first in the NCAA for runners caught stealing with 19, sharing the title with Makenzie Macfarlane of Utah State.
BRADLEY 2023 STATS LEADERS
AVG. |
RBI |
ERA |
DeRolf - .345 |
French - 22 |
Schaller - 3.21 (65.1 IP) |
French - .317 |
McCoy - 16 |
French - 4.60 (109.2 IP) |
Comstock - .13 |
Sample/Badgley - 15 |
Badgley - 5.80 (64.0 IP) |
ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
The Redbirds come into the weekend with a record of 20-17 overall and 10-3 in conference. The team finished sixth in the MVC last year, going 24-28 overall and 12-13 in conference. Illinois State is 3-2 in its last five games, claiming two victories over the Braves and one over Missouri State but losing back-to-back against the Lady Bears. The Redbirds are led offensively by a quartet of players all hitting over .300 on the year. They have a combined 137 hits on the year and 81 RBI. Hannah Ross leads the Redbirds in the circle. Ross has an ERA of 2.16 and has 73 strikeouts on the season.
ILLINOIS STATE 2023 STATS LEADERS
AVG. |
RBI |
ERA |
Emme Olson/Delainey Bryant - .333 |
Emme Olson/Delainey Bryant - 24 |
Hannah Ross - 2.16 (97.1 IP) |
Dayna Kennedy - .319 |
Dayna Kennedy - 22 |
Hannah Meshnick - 3.09 (56.2 IP) |
Abby Knight - .311 |
Jayden Standish/Kaili Chval - 19 |
Amanda Fox - 3.23 (43.1 IP) |
The Braves will return home to face Valparaiso in a weekend series.