COLUMBIA, Mo. – Bradley scratched together five runs in the top of the seventh to grab a 5-4 lead on 16th-ranked Missouri, but the Tigers scored an unearned run in the bottom half of the inning and pushed a run across in the bottom of the eighth to edge the Braves 6-5 Friday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Columbia Regional.

Missouri starter Casey Stangel limited Bradley (27-31 overall) to four hits in the first six innings and the Braves were down to their last out trailing 4-0 in the top of the seventh before Kathryn Spenn and Brianne Joseph drew two-out walks in the top of the seventh to spark a BU rally.

Junior Alyson Clemente had fouled off three balls with an 0-2 count, before she belted a three-run homer to left center to pull Bradley within a run at 4-3.  The Clemente homer was the first of five consecutive hits for the Braves. 

Marina Groenewegen followed the Clemente bomb with a single through the right side and pinch runner Kelly Kapp came around to score from second on a double by Madeline Lynch-Crumrine to tie things up at 4-4.  Shannon King ripped a single up the middle to plate Lynch-Crumrine and give Bradley its only lead of the afternoon at 5-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

A Bradley error in the bottom half of the inning helped Missouri (42-16 overall) knot the score at 5-5 and force extra innings.  A BU error, following a one-out double, put runners at first and third with one out.  A four-pitch walk loaded the bases and Tigers pulled even at 5-5 on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kirsten Mack.

The Braves were retired in order in the top of the eighth and a leadoff walk to open the Mizzou half of the frame proved costly.  Taylor Gadbois walked on four pitches to start the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.  Emily Crane singled and a walk loaded the bases with one out.  Corrin Genovese capped a 4-for-4 day at the plate with a single through the left side to give Missouri the 6-5 victory.

The Tigers had an early lead after scoring a run in the first.  Gadbois collected the first five extra-base hits for Missouri with a bloop double down the left field line and came around to score on a bunt single by Crane to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

Lynch-Crumrine retired six consecutive batters before surrendering a two-out walk to Angela Randazzo in the bottom of the fifth.  Pinch runner Sarah Moore came all the way around to score on a double off the wall in left center by Genovese, who had three doubles on the day, to give Mizzou a 2-0 advantage.  A single up the middle by Kelsey Roth plated another run and a RBI pinch-hit single to left by Natalie Fleming pushed the Tigers lead to 4-0.

Lynch-Crumrine took the loss for Bradley to drop to 18-17 on the year.  She struck out four and walked five in 5.2 innings of work.  Alora Marble earned the win for Missouri with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief to up her record to 7-1. 

Bradley will play 19th-ranked Nebraska Saturday at 6 p.m. in an elimination game after the Cornhuskers fell to Kansas 3-1 early Friday afternoon.