PEORIA, IL – The Bradley Braves softball team will welcome the Belmont Bruins for the third weekend of valley play. Friday marks the first home game of the season for the Braves.

Game Information
Game 1
Date: Friday, March 20th
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT.
Location: OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, IL
Watch | Live Stats


Game 2
Date: Friday, March 20th
Time: 5:00 p.m. CT.
Location: OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, IL
Watch | Live Stats

Game 3
Date: Saturday, March 21st
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT.
Location: OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, IL
Watch | Live Stats

Last Time Out
The Braves split a midweek doubleheader at Lindenwood. In game one, the Braves earned a 10-0 victory in five innings. Senior Kierston McCoy went 3-4 at the plate with an RBI. All three of her hits were doubles. The Braves out-hit the Lions 14-4, with four Braves recording a pair of hits, McCoy leading the charge with her three extra-base hits. Senior Ashley Breeding and Austin Comstock each hit a double that scored a run, Breeding adding a single to her day, batting 2-4 at the dish. Junior Hilary Wilson recorded a team-high three RBIs in the contest, tying her Bradley career high. The team had seven of the nine hitters bring home at least one run in the dominant victory. In sophomore Abby Rusher's no-run showing, she picked up a pair of strikeouts while pitching all five frames.

The Braves fell in the second contest, 9-1. Sophomore Emily Organ hit an RBI single in the fourth inning to score the Braves' lone run. Junior Ella Shafer went 2-2 in game two, as the Braves notched seven hits as a team.

The Bradley Braves
The Braves have scored 16 runs in the past three games. Sophomore Morgan Schlosser leads the Braves with a .337 batting average. McCoy leads the charge with 19 RBIs, 10 doubles and seven home runs. Five Braves have started in all six contests, all returning players. Three Braves have above .897 on-base percentages, including a .920 mark from Comstock. The Braves don't try to take many bases, but when they do, they steal successfully. As a team, they are 11-12 on steal attempts.

The Opponents
Belmont enters the contest with an 18-7 record and a 5-1 mark in MVC play, coming off a home sweep of Evansville. Sophomore Rylee Spindler leads the Bruins, batting .466 on the year. Senior Nicole Hughes has a .358 batting average, leading the team with 19 walks. Redshirt-Senior Maya Johnson is as dominant as ever, currently recording a 0.42 ERA with 178 strikeouts.

History Says
Belmont leads the all-time series, 6-4. The two schools did not meet last season in the regular season, but Belmont beat Bradley 8-3 in the second round of the MVC softball tournament. The programs met in 2024 at E.S. Rose Park in Nashville, where the Bruins took two of three. Bradley won game one, 6-3, yet fell 1-2 and 0-1 in the following two games.