PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley softball team (25-26 overall) is finishing up preparations for its first NCAA Tournament appearance and will open play in the 2009 NCAA Tournament against 15th-seeded and 20th-ranked DePaul Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Columbia, Mo. The Braves depart for Columbia, Mo., at 5 p.m. Wednesday with a send off scheduled for 4:45 p.m. in front of the Markin Family Student Recreation Center. In the case of inclement weather the send off will be moved to the lobby of the Markin Family Student Recreation Center.

Fans interested in listening to the Braves NCAA Regional contests can tune into ESPN Radio (96.5 FM) in the Peoria, Ill., area to listen to Friday’s game against DePaul and Saturday afternoon’s contest against either 12th-ranked Missouri or in-state rival Illinois. Any games played beyond the first two will be broadcast on 101.1 FM Hippie Radio in the Peoria area. Sports Information intern Bryan Moore will handle the play-by-play with Brad Snook providing color commentary.

Regional host Missouri will be providing free video streaming of all the games from the Columbia Regional at http://www.mutigers.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/09-softbl-regional.html The tournament page also includes links to Live Stats, directions, ticket and parking information.

The Braves are facing DePaul for the first time since the 1998 season and trail the all-time series with the Blue Demons 9-10. Bradley dropped a single game at Illinois (4-0) earlier this season and split a doubleheader at Missouri last season.