Box Score TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior Denise Jilka (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) belted her first home run since her freshman year, but Bradley managed just two hits against 19th-ranked Texas A&M and fell 3-1 to the Aggies to wrap up play at the Kajikawa Classic Sunday morning.
Texas A&M struck first, plating a run in the bottom of the first inning. Natalie Villarreal finished 3-for-3 for the Aggies and belted a double to lead off the bottom of the first After moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, she came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Meaghan May to give Texas A&M (2-3 overall) an early 1-0 lead.
Bradley (0-5 overall) trailed 2-0 after Kelsey Spittler belted a two-out solo homer in the bottom of the fourth.
Jilka helped the Braves answer in the next frame, smacking a one-out, solo home run of her own to right field to pull Bradley within a run (2-1).
The Aggies added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning to push the advantage to 3-1. Melissa Dumezich drew a one-out walk and later scored on a single off the bat of Villarreal.
Texas A&M left runners at first and second in the top of the sixth and Bradley tried to rally in the seventh after a one-out single by freshman Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley), but Dumezich retired the next two batters she faced to close out the two-hit victory
Dumezich struck out nine and walked one in the complete game win for her first victory of the year. Junior Lindsay Hufeld (Mapleton, Ill./Limestone/Illinois Central) suffered the loss in the circle for the Braves, striking out one and walking three.
Bradley returns to action Friday, opening play at the Troy Classic in Troy, Ala., with a 6:30 p.m. game against Samford.
