PEORIA, Ill. -- Down to its last strike, Bradley got a walk-off 8-7 victory over I-74 rival Illinois State when senior Brittany Burgess (Utica, Ill./St. Bede) delivered a two-out, two-run single to left center on her eighth pitch of the at bat on a cold,  blustery Wednesday afternoon at Laura Bradley Park. 

Illinois State slugged four home runs, including a solo shot by Riley Standgard to lead off the fourth and a three-run blast by Lindsey Greene later in the inning as the Redbirds took a 7-6 lead into the late innings. 

Bradley, which had led 6-3 after a five-run fourth, was retired in order in both the fifth and sixth innings and needed a run in the bottom of the seventh, trailing 7-6.  Senior Shannon King (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty), who was 3-for-4 on the day and 7-for-8 in the three games this spring against Illinois State, led off the seventh with a double which the wind carried over the head of Illinois State centerfielder Annie Heineman.  Junior Kendall Duffy (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) drew a one-out walk and the Braves had runners at second and third after a groundout. 

With two outs, Burgess was down 0-2 in the count, but was able to battle back and lifted the eighth pitch of her at bat on a 3-2 count to shallow center field.  The ball scooted past a diving Heineman and both King and Duffy raced home to give Bradley the 8-7 walk-off victory. 

Heineman led off the game with a solo homer for the Redbirds and Illinois State added another run later in the first with a bases loaded walk to take an early 2-0 lead. 

Bradley answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning to cut the ISU lead in half at 2-1.  A Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) walk and Erika Hansen (Fillmore, Calif./Moorpark) single was followed by a RBI single by King.  The RBI was King's career-best 32nd of the year. 

Greene belted the first of her two home runs in the game to leadoff the Illinois State second and push the Redbird advantage to 3-1. 

The Braves scored five two-out runs in the fourth to take their first lead of the afternoon at 6-3.  Bradley loaded the bases on singles by Duffy and senior Lexi Cremeens (Dix, Ill./Mount Vernon) and a fielder's choice by Burgess.  Sophomore Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) drove in a run with a groundout to plate the first run of the inning. 

Schroeder collected the first of five two-out Bradley singles, driving in a pair with a single to right.  Hansen added one of her three singles in the game to put runners at first and second for sophomore Caitlyn McCarron (Dallas, Ore./Dallas), who drove in a run with a single to center.  After King loaded the bases with a single through the left side of the infield, Cremeens notched her second hit of the inning with a single in the same spot to cap a five-run fourth.

The lead was short lived though, with Illinois State answering with a four-run fifth.  Riley Strandgard's homer to open the inning cut the Bradley lead to 6-4 and Green's second homer of the game, a three-run shot gave the Redbirds a 7-6 edge. 

Burgess was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI after her walk off hit and was one of five Braves with multi-hit games.  Thirteen of Bradley's 14 hits were singles, while six of Illinois State's eight hits went for extra bases.

Sophomore Jaelen Hull (Clifton, Ill./Bishop McNamara) earned the victory for Bradley, tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to improve to 5-10 on the year.  She held Illinois State to just one hit after taking over in the circle with two outs in the top of the fifth.  Starter Alyson Spinas-Valainis (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) matched a career-high with six strikeouts. 

Bradley opens a three-game series against league-leading Drake with a noon doubleheader Saturday at Laura Bradley Park.