Teutopolis Graduates To Meet In Softball Wednesday

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley softball opens an eight-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing with a midweek doubleheader at I-74 rival Illinois State, with the Braves visiting the Redbirds for a 3 p.m. twin-bill Wednesday afternoon at Marian Kneer Stadium in Normal.

Riding a seven-game road win streak, which is tied for the longest in program history, Bradley (19-15 overall, 6-5 MVC) owns an 8-2 road record on the season.  Illinois State (12-23 overall, 6-2 MVC) has played the fewest home games in the MVC (3) after dropping two of three home games against Northern Iowa over the weekend.

Both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader will be available on ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for both contests.

Bradley has claimed the season series for the Redbirds in two of the last three years and the Braves are 2-3 in games played in Normal, Ill., over that span.

While Bradley has won at least eight true road games for the 13th time in program history, the Braves have won at least eight true road contests for just the second time since 2006 (9) with the 2014 season (9-17) the only other year during that stretch with eight or more road wins.  The school record for road wins in a season is 14 (1985) and the Braves last won 10 true road games in 2004 (11-15).  Bradley plays 11 of the final 15 regular-season games on the road.

Bradley enters Wednesday’s doubleheader at Illinois State one victory short of matching the team’s win total from 2018 (20-30).  With a 19-15 overall mark, the Braves need four wins for their highest win total since a 27-win season in 2014 which included a MVC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance.

Bradley earned its 19th victory of the season with Sunday’s 2-0 blanking of Missouri State to mark the earliest the Braves were able to reach 19 victories since 2013 (19-12 on March 30).  BU is 6-5 or better through 11 conference games for the first time since 2016 (7-4).

Junior Emma Jackson tossed a complete game shutout in the series finale against Missouri State Sunday, with the Braves shutting out the Bears 2-0.  Bradley did not have a shutout in 2019 prior to the three-hit shutout by Jackson and the Braves had not shutout a Valley opponent dating back to a one-hit complete game shutout performance by senior Julie Kestas on April 9, 2017 against Wichita State.

Jackson has picked up wins in each of her last two outings and owns a 2-1 record with a 1.42 ERA in Missouri Valley Conference play.  In her career, Jackson has posted a 2.86 ERA, while holding opponents to a .221 batting average and striking out 5.47 batters per seven innings after April 1 (85.2 innings) compared to a career 5.25 ERA and .330 batting average against and 3.54 strikeouts per seven innings prior to April 1 (123 innings).

Senior Allison Apke (Teutopolis H.S.) brings a season-best eight-game hit streak into Wednesday’s doubleheader at Illinois State after hitting .563 (9-for-16) with a double, two homers, three runs and eight RBI in six games last week.  During her streak, Apke owns a .458 average (11-for-24) with three homers and nine RBI.  She has tallied a .552 on base percentage during her current hit streak and owns a team-best .364 average in Valley play. She will be facing two other Teutopolis graduates, Anni and Kadi Borries who play for Illinois State.

In fact, Apke has hit safely in 11 of her last 12 games with the only hitless game during that stretch the series opener against Drake.  She has hit .421 over that 12-game stretch, which includes a .500 average with runners on base.

The Braves continue the eight-game road swing with a three-game weekend series at Evansville Saturday and Sunday.