Braves and Redbirds Renew I-74 Rivalry on Tuesday

NORMAL, Ill. – Coming off their home-opening conference series with league-leading Belmont, a midweek road trip awaits Illinois State as the Redbirds will travel west on I-74 to renew their longtime rivalry with Bradley on Tuesday in the first of three games with their league travel partners. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Bradley will face off for the 108th time on Tuesday, as ISU leads the all-time series between the two programs, 80-27. Illinois State leads the softball 1-74 rivalry by a wide margin of 53 wins and swept the Braves in three contests in 2024. The Birds took the doubleheader sweep over their longtime rivals at home on March 28, before securing the series sweep on April 17 thanks to a career night from Addison Masching, who had a career-high night going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. 

SCOUTING THE BRAVES
•    Bradley (14-16, 4-2 MVC) has won five of its last six games and has held opponents to two runs or fewer in four of those victories. The Braves continued their strong start to Missouri Valley Conference play, winning two of three games against Drake last weekend at OSF Healthcare Field
•    The weekend opened with a 1-0 walk-off win on Friday night for the Braves, as Sydney Kennedy delivered a complete-game shutout, going nine innings and allowing just five hits while stranding 10 baserunners. On Saturday, Bradley fell 4-2 in the first game of the doubleheader despite a solo home run from Kierston McCoy but bounced back in the finale with a 4-1 victory to take the series. Kennedy earned her second victory of the weekend, throwing another complete game while giving up just one run on five hits. 
•    Over the weekend, Kennedy pitched 16.0 innings, allowed only one earned run, and lowered her season ERA to 1.91 over 102.2 innings of work.
•    The Braves' offense was led by Morgan Schlosser, who went 6-for-10 with two doubles, four runs scored, and two RBIs against Drake. McCoy leads Bradley on the season with a .310 batting average, and has a team high seven doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs on the year.

REDBIRD NEWS & NOTES
•    Illinois State (7-23) went 1-2 in their home opening series last Friday and Saturday at Marian Kneer Stadium against league-leading Belmont.
•    The Redbirds dropped a tough 2-1 decision in 10 innings in the first game of Friday's doubleheader, despite a strong pitching performance by starter Hannah Meshnick who allowed just two earned runs on seven hits in 9.1 innings of work and a solo home run off the bat of Tatum Wolford. The second game of the series went much better for the Birds, who faced a 5-0 deficit in the sixth inning but scored a pair of runs on a home run by Abby Knight and then rallied for four runs in the seventh capped off by a 3-run walkoff homerun by Delainey Bryant to give the Bruins their lone loss in Valley play.
•    Knight leads the Redbirds on the season with a .323 average and leads the team with seven doubles. Masching ranks second on the team in batting average at .272 but leads the team with 10 RBI, while Bryant leads the offense with three home runs and 15 runs scored on the year.
•    Illinois State features four standouts selected for the 2025 All-MVC preseason team in seniors Delainey Bryant and Bella Wilkerson and sophomores Paige McLeod and Hopkins. The four selections led all MVC programs.

For updates on Illinois State Softball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB), Instagram (@redbirdsoftball), and Facebook (Illinois State Redbird Softball).

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.