Missouri State Bears (6-16, 2-3 MVC) at Bradley Braves (11-13, 2-1 MVC)
Dates	Saturday-Sunday, March 23-24, 2024
Location & Site	OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex Peoria, Ill.
Game 1	Saturday, 12:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Game 2	Saturday, 2:30 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Game 3	Sunday, 12:00 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes (PDF) | Softball Home Page
Bradley	Softball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	March 26 at Oklahoma State | 6:00 p.m

Starting Lineup

• Missouri State softball will travel to Bradley for its first conference road trip of the season.The Bears and Braves will face off in a three-game series from March 22-24. The two teams haven't met since the weekend of April 30-May 1, 2022 with MSU taking the series in Springfield. MSU's last trip to Peoria was in April 2021. 
• In 2024, the Bears' schedule features six NCAA Tournament teams from last season, highlighted by contests against 2023 Women's College World Series participants Tennessee and Oklahoma State. Missouri State faced two top-15 opponents on opening weekend in Clemson and Oregon, both of which made it to Super Regionals in 2023. The remaining two teams (SIU and Central Arkansas) made it to Regionals a season ago. 
• Missouri State was picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, while Olivia Krehbiel and McKenzie Vaughan were named to the All-MVC preseason team. However, Vaughan suffered a season-ending arm injury prior to Missouri State's first game of the season in Clearwater, Fla. 
• Prior to the start of the season, head coach Holly Hesse announced her plan to retire following the 2024 season. Hesse owns a 909-873-2 career record in her 36th season as the leader of the Missouri State softball program. She is the second-winningest coach in MVC history in both overall (909) and conference (402) victories. She collected career victory No. 900 last season with a 4-3 victory over Southern Illinois on April 26. She ranks 19th among active Division I coaches in career victories. 
• Kayla Ulrich (Fr.,Sullivan, Mo.) is putting together an impressive freshman campaign so far this season. She leads MSU with a .378 batting average, and is second on the team with 10 walks and has struck out just four times this season. In the MVC, Ulrich ranks 4th in on-base percentage (491), 6th in average and 7th in OPS (1.024). 
• Olivia Krehbiel (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) is one of MSU's top returning hitters from a season ago and continues to climb up the MSU record books. She is second on MSU's career home run list with 24 and sits just four homers shy of breaking the record (27, Jessie Smith: 2006-09). She also ranks inside the top five in career RBI (109), doubles (38) and walks (95). She ranks fourth in the MVC and leads the team with 17 walks this season. 
• Gracie Johnston (Sr., Augusta, Kan.) ranks 5th nationally and first in the MVC with four saves on the season. 
• Annie Mueller (Sr., Pacific, Mo.) is one of Missouri State's big power threats. Eight of her 15 hits this season have gone for extra bases and she leads the team with 4 home runs and 14 RBI. 
• Alexis Perales (Fr., Grapevine, Texas) got off to a hot start in conference play. Across five-games to start MVC play last week, Perales drew three starts and appeared in four games. She hit .714 (5-for-7) with a home run, 4 RBI and two runs scored. She slugged 1.143 and had an on-base percentage of .750.  
• The Bears own the second-fewest errors in the MVC with 26 on the season. MSU owns a .956 fielding percentage, which ranks 6th in the league.

Series History
    Missouri State leads the all-time series against Bradley, 65-39, including a 25-20 record on the road in Peoria. The two teams last met on the weekend of April 30-May 1, 2022 with Missouri State winning the series in Springfield. With the new 12-team Missouri Valley Conference, Bradley and MSU did not play each other last season. 
    Missouri State has not made the trip to Peoria since April 2-3, 2021 where the Bears where swept in their last road series against the Braves. In the first game of the 2021 series in Peoria, the Braves used a walk-off single to win 4-3 before the Bears fell 5-0 and 4-1 in a Saturday doubleheader.