PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Softball will open Missouri Valley Conference play with a three-game series at Indiana State Saturday and Sunday, marking the first time the Braves will face the Sycamores in a conference-opening series since 1991.
The three games series at Terre Haute, Ind., starts Saturday with an 11 a.m. (CDT) doubleheader and will wrap up Sunday with a single game at 11 a.m. (CDT). BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for all three games of the series and GoSycamores.com will feature a free video stream of the MVC opening series.
Bradley leads the all-time series with Indiana State 58-30 after taking two of three in the regular-season series last year at Laura Bradley Park. The Braves are 7-2 against the Sycamores over the past three seasons and 8-3 in the last 11 matchups overall. Under head coach Amy Hayes, Bradley boasts a 14-4 against Indiana State. The Braves have won at least one game at Indiana State in each of the last 12 trips to Terre Haute, Ind., dating back to an 0-2 road series in 1991 and Bradley is 21-8 on the road against Indiana State during that span, managing at least a split in 11 of the last 12 road series.
Saturday's conference opener will mark the fourth consecutive year Bradley will open Missouri Valley Conference play on the road and will be the latest Valley opener for the Braves since 2013 (March 23). Bradley will face Indiana State in its conference opener for the first time since 1991 and just the fourth time overall. The Braves and Sycamores also opened conference play against each other in 1986 and 1985.
Senior Kendall Duffy (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) went 4-for-9 with three runs and three RBI in last year's series against Indiana State and enters the weekend with a career .370 average in nine outings against the Sycamores. Duffy is 10-for-27 with four runs, two doubles, one homer and eight RBI in her career against Indiana State. Not to be outdone, junior Kelly Kapp was 5-for-9 with three runs and two stolen bases in last year's matchups with the Sycamores.
Two of Bradley's last five games have gone to extra innings and five of the last contests have been one-run games, with the Braves going 1-4 in those contests. Nearing the midway point of the 2016 season, Bradley is 2-7 in one-run games this spring after playing a total of 16 one-run contests last year.
A four-year starter at first base, senior Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) enters MVC play with 1,244 career putouts and is closing in on Bradley's career mark of 1,272 held by Brittany Mynsberge (2002-05). Clemente needs to record just 29 more outs to break the career mark. She is also poised to climb Bradley's career RBI list, needing two more RBI to pass Joanna Pettit for sixth all-time on The Hilltop. Clemente has 91 career RBI and is nine short of becoming the fifth player in school history with 100 career RBI.
Following the weekend series at Indiana State, Bradley will travel to Springfield, Mo., for a three-game series at Missouri State March 25 & 26 before playing 15 of the next 19 games at home.
