PEORIA, Ill. ? Illinois State senior catcher Casey Gorrell belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning of Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference softball game against Bradley at Laura Bradley Park, providing the visiting Redbirds all the offense they would need in a 2-1 victory over the Braves.

Originally scheduled to be played in Normal, Saturday's contest was moved to Laura Bradley Park due to unplayable field conditions at Illinois State's Marian Kneer Softball Stadium. The home team on the scoreboard, the Redbirds (12-9 overall, 1-0 MVC) jumped to the early lead in bottom of the first inning on Gorrell's fourth home run of the campaign. Senior pitcher Amber Smith ripped a one-out single to left to start the rally, followed by Gorrell's long ball for a 2-0 lead.

The Braves (8-8 overall, 0-1 MVC) responded with a single run in the top of the second inning. After Bradley freshman third baseman Jackie Roth (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg H.S.) grounded a one-out single into right-center field, BU senior first baseman Alycia Bachkora (Overland Park, Kan./Notre Dame de Sion) followed with an RBI double to the left field wall. Bachkora was tagged out on the play between second and third base during the Illinois State relay throw, allowing Roth to score from first to narrow the Bradley deficit to 2-1.

After yielding the run in the second inning, Smith settled down to retire 11 of the next 13 Bradley batters. Bradley senior Miriam Wegmann (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville H.S.) singled and later moved into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt from junior Amanda Clack (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro H.S.) in the top of the sixth inning, but a groundout ended the threat with Illinois State's 2-1 lead intact.

Bradley senior starting pitcher Ashley Birdsong (Otis, Ore./Taft H.S.) took the loss to fall to 4-4 on the season. The BU hurler allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, striking out five and walking two.

The three-game series will conclude with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday at Laura Bradley Park in Peoria.