EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Bradley softball team ended a season-long seven-game losing skid with a convincing 11-3 victory in six innings at Evansville Sunday to conclude a three-game series with the Purple Aces.  The 11 runs scored were the most by the Braves against a Missouri Valley Conference opponent since a 12-2 win at Indiana State on April 17, 2010.

After scoring single runs in the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead, Bradley blew open what was a one-run game at the time (2-1) with a four-run third inning and also used a four-run sixth inning to take the final game of the series by the final score of 11-3.

Junior Alex Chandler (Needles, Calif./Needles) was one of three Bradley players to have multi-hit games, going 3-for-3 with a home run, double and three RBI.  Freshman Kathryn Spenn (Williamsville, Ill./Williamsville), who had five RBI in the first 34 games of the season, collected three RBI Sunday to give her 10 RBI in the last six contests.

“It has been a tough skid but I'm really proud of the way our kids bounced back today,” said Bradley head coach Amy Hayes.  “Assistant coaches Chris Malveaux and Jennie Shollenberger have done a great job preparing our offense and today we got back on track.  Alex Chandler may have played her best game so far in a Bradley uniform.  She is one of our team captains and today she showed why.”

Bradley (21-19 overall, 6-7 MVC) opened the game with back-to-back singles by Brianne Joseph (Post Falls, Idaho/Post Falls) and Brittany Burgess (Utica, Ill./St. Bede).  The Braves had runners at first and third after a fly ball when Joseph stole home on a double steal to give BU a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

Chandler made it a 2-0 Bradley advantage with a solo homer in the top of the second, hitting her third home run of the season.  Evansville (15-24 overall, 6-8 MVC) cut the BU lead to 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the second, before Bradley took control with a four-run third inning.

Burgess reached on an error to open the third inning and Bailiegh Basham (Mattoon, Ill./Mattoon/Lake Land C.C.) followed an Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) single with one of her two walks on the day to load the bases.  Spenn drove in a run with a single and another run scored on Evansville's second error of the inning.  Chandler made it a 6-1 Bradley lead with a two-out, two-run double to left.

The Braves loaded the bases again in the top of the fifth for freshman Kendall Duffy (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy), who drove in a run with a single to push the BU advantage to 7-1.  

Evansville answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to trim the Bradley lead to 7-3, but Bradley put the game out of reach with four more runs in the top of the sixth.  Basham walked to load the bases again, after singles by Burgess and Clemente, when two runs came into score on UE's fourth error of the game.  Junior Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley) pushed her career-best hitting streak to nine games with a two-run double to left as the Braves built an 11-3 lead. 

Lynch-Crumrine pitched around a walk in the bottom of the sixth to close out the Bradley victory.  She struck out four and scattered five hits over six innings of work as she improved to 13-9 with the win. 

Bradley closes out a seven-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing Wednesday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Northern Iowa.