SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Senior Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley) hit a grand slam and pitched a three-hit shutout to power Bradley to a 4-0 victory in the nightcap as the Braves split a pair of games with Missouri State Saturday to open Missouri Valley Conference play.

Bradley (10-15 overall, 1-1 MVC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opener, before Missouri State (15-8 overall, 1-1 MVC) rallied to win the first game of the day 6-3.  In the second game, Lynch-Crumrine belted a grand slam in the top of the third and held the Bears to just three hits in her first complete game shutout of the year.

Senior Alex Chandler (Needles, Calif./Needles) gave Bradley a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning of the opener, with a two-run homer to right field.  The home run was Chandler's team-best fourth of the year and moved her into a tie for fourth in career home runs at Bradley with the 14th of her career.

The Braves pushed the lead to 3-0 with a run in the top of the fifth.  With runners at first and second, junior Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) drove in her team-best 17th run of the year with a RBI single to center.

A Bradley error and five Missouri State hits in the bottom half of the fifth helped the Bears go in front 5-3.  Missouri State had runners had runners at second and third after a hit batter and error to open the inning for Erin Duewel, who ripped a two-run triple to right to cut the BU advantage to 3-2.  Duewel scored to tie the game at 3-3 on a single and a bases loaded single off the bat of Bethany Sullinger knocked in a pair to give Missouri State a 5-3 lead.

Missouri State added a run in the bottom of the sixth on a passed ball and Bradley stranded a runner in scoring position in each of the last three innings as the Bears held on for the 6-3 victory.  Freshman Jaelen Hull (Clifton, Ill./Bishop McNamara) took the loss in the circle for Bradley to fall to 2-8 on the year, while Chelsea Jones improved her record to 7-3 with the win for Missouri State.

After the teams combined for nine runs and 15 hits in the opener, four unearned runs in the second game proved to be the difference as Bradley split the doubleheader with a 4-0 victory.  Lynch-Crumrine took a no-hit bid into the fourth and also provided the big hit of the game with a grand slam in the top of the third to highlight the 4-0 win.

Bradley had the bases loaded in the third after a Missouri State error and back-to-back walks for Lynch-Crumrine, who cleared the bases with her first home run of the season to give the Braves a 4-0 lead.

Missouri State got out a bases loaded game in the top of the fourth and got its first hit against Lynch-Crumrine and Bradley in the bottom half of the frame, but couldn't push a run across.  Lynch-Crumrine pitched around lead off walks in both the fourth and fifth and a Missouri State double to open the sixth to preserve the shutout. 

A two-out Missouri State single in the seventh was just the third hit of the contest for the Bears and Lynch-Crumrine struck out Elena Gambill to close out the win as she upped her record to 6-7 on the spring.  Lynch-Crumrine struck out four and walked just two in the three-hit complete game shutout.  Erin Struemph had seven strikeouts and three walks in the setback to drop to 6-3 for the Bears.

The teams are scheduled to close out the series tomorrow with a single game at noon in Springfield, Mo.