NORMAL, Ill. – Junior Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) belted a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to help Bradley rally from a 5-4 deficit and top Missouri State 8-5 Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.  The Braves advance to face regular-season conference champ Wichita State in the semifinals Friday at noon.

Bradley (25-30 overall) appeared to be in control early on with senior Madeline Lynch-Crumrine (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Sedro-Woolley) limiting Missouri State (28-27 overall) to one hit in the first four innings and she faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four frames. 

The Braves had jumped out to a 4-0 lead, before Missouri State scored four runs in the fifth and added a single run in the sixth as the Bears took a 5-4 lead into the late stages of the contest.

Senior Mariah Cole (Springfield, Ill./Chatham Glenwood) started a Bradley rally in the bottom of the sixth with a sharp one-out single to third base.  Junior Brittany Burgess (Utica, Ill./St. Bede) and senior Brianne Joseph (Post Falls, Idaho/Post Falls) loaded the bases with back-to-back bunt singles for Clemente, who ripped a towering shot over the left field fence for her fifth homer of the year.  The grand slam gave Bradley an 8-5 lead.

Lynch-Crumrine pitched around an error and single in the top of the seventh with Missouri State stranding a pair of runners on base.  She improved to 17-16 on the year with victory in addition to going 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.

Clemente helped get Bradley on the board in the bottom of the third after drawing a four-pitch walk with two outs.  Senior Marina Groenewegen (Surrey, British Columbia/Elgin Park Secondary/Southern Idaho) followed with a bloop single to right center and Lynch-Crumrine ripped a RBI single up the middle on the first pitch she saw to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.  Junior Shannon King (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) followed with a double which rolled to the fence in left center to plate a pair and give the Braves a 3-0 lead. 

Senior Alex Chandler (Needles, Calif./Needles) led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and later scored on a single to right off the bat of Burgess to push the Bradley advantage to 4-0.

Missouri State was finally able to get to Lynch-Crumrine in the top of the fifth.  A single and walk to open the inning proved costly, however, as a run came in on a Stacia Boeckstiegel single up the middle.  Rebecca McPherson provided the big hit of the afternoon for the Bears with a three-run homer down the left field line to pull Missouri State even at 4-4.

The Bears took a 5-4 lead with an unearned run in the top of the sixth.  MSU had a runner at first with two outs and Bradley appeared to be out of the inning when King tracked down a blooper in shallow right center, but she dropped the ball after colliding with Burgess on the play which would have ended the inning.  Chelsea Jones raced all the way around from first on the error to put MSU in front 5-4.

Clemente, who was 1-for-3 with a walk and four RBI, delivered the game-winning grand slam in the bottom half of the sixth to advance the Braves to their first MVC Tournament semifinal appearance since their 2009 title run.

Erin Struemph took the loss for Missouri State in the circle, giving up seven hits and five runs in three innings out of the bullpen to drop to 13-12. 

Bradley will play #1 seed Wichita State Friday at noon in the MVC Tournament semifinals in Normal, Ill.  The other semifinal will feature #2 seed Illinois State and the winner of tonight's game between #7 Loyola and #3 Southern Illinois.