Allison Apke Has Come On Strong For Bradley

PEORIA, Ill. -- Fresh off winning its Missouri Valley Conference-opening series against Valparaiso, Bradley Softball will play its first midweek game of the 2019 season with the Braves traveling to Columbia, Mo., for a 4 p.m. contest against the Tigers Wednesday at Mizzou Softball Stadium.

Wednesday’s game marks the halfway point of the regular-season schedule for Bradley (13-11 overall) and is one of just two non-conference games remaining on the 2019 slate for the Braves.  Missouri (13-11 overall) took two of three games from #8 Georgia at home over the weekend.

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for Wednesday’s game at Missouri, which will be available online via SEC Network+.

Missouri owns an 8-2 lead in the all-time series with Wednesday’s game marking the first meeting in the series since the 2014 NCAA Tournament.  The Tigers have won the last five games in the series dating back to a 2008 Bradley victory.  Eight of the 10 previous games have been played in Columbia, Mo., with Bradley owning a 1-7 record in those contests.

Bradley took two of three games from Valparaiso over the weekend to open Missouri Valley Conference play to mark the first time the Braves won the first series on the league slate since 2016 (at Indiana State).  In fact, Bradley posted a 9-1, six-inning win over Valparaiso in the conference opener as the Braves won their league-opening game for the first time since 2013 (vs. Wichita State in Edwardsville, Ill.).  The last time Bradley won a home game to open conference action was 2001 and the Braves were 2-0 to start the conference schedule for the first time since 1986.

Bradley won the first two games of last weekend’s Missouri Valley Conference series against Valparaiso to push its win streak to six games.  The six-game win streak was the longest for the Braves since winning six straight home games midway through the 2015 campaign.  Bradley is 8-2 in its last 10 games after a 5-9 start to the season.

The top scoring team in the MVC at 6.1 runs per contest, Bradley has averaged 7.9 runs per game over the last 10 outings and is hitting .342 as a team during that stretch.  In addition, Bradley pitchers have combined for a 2.60 ERA over the last 10 contests, while holding opponent to a .252 average.  Five of the team’s eight wins during that stretch have been run-rule victories and the team has the most run-rule wins (5) since 2014 (6).  Freshman leadoff hitter Lucy Mead is hitting .452 with 13 runs and 10 RBI over the last 10 games with six doubles and one home run.

Bradley reaches the midway point of the 2019 regular-season schedule Wednesday and is currently one of four MVC schools in the top 90 of the NCAA’s RPI announced Monday with the Braves checking in at #89.  BU’s non-conference schedule is 75th in the nation according to the RPI report, which is the third toughest in the league behind Drake (#1) and Illinois State (#16).  This week Bradley has four games against teams in the top 40 of the RPI with a three-game home series against #35 Drake following up Wednesday’s outing at #40 Missouri.  Eleven of Bradley’s 24 games have come against top-100 teams and 19 of 24 games have been played against teams in the top half of the RPI.  Of Bradley’s 26 games remaining on the 2019 schedule, 20 are against teams currently in the top half of the RPI, including 10 contests against top-100 squads.

Preseason All-MVC pick Allison Apke (Teutopolis graduate) got off to a bit of a slow start to the season, hitting .154 (2-for-13) with one run and two RBI in her first five games of the season.  She is 12-for-32 (.375) with six homers, 13 RBI and nine runs scored in her 12 games since.  In fact, she missed five games between Feb. 24 and March 2 before returning to the lineup for the last six games. Over that six-game span, Apke has had a hit in five outings and owns a .412 average (7-for-17) with one double, two homers, five runs and seven RBI in addition to drawing five walks and owning a .545 on base percentage.  She drove in four runs during the weekend series against Valparaiso and has moved into 10th in career RBI at Bradley with 69. Apke is one of six Bradley players with 15 or more RBI this season.  

The Braves follow up the midweek game at Missouri with a three-game home series against defending Valley champion and preseason favorite Drake Saturday and Sunday at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.