WICHITA, Kan. – Bradley slugged a pair of home runs and sophomore Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) was 4-for-4 with three runs, a double, triple and one RBI, but Illinois State belted four home runs of its own as the Braves ended their season with an 11-7 loss Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The teams traded runs early on with Bradley (22-32 overall) answering two Illinois State runs in the top of the first with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.  Pitcher Regan Romshek gave the Redbirds an early 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the first. 

In the Bradley half of the inning, Kapp led things off with a double and scored on a single by freshman Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich).  Schroeder later scored on a single off the bat of senior Shannon King (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) single to tie the game at 2-2.

Illinois State went back in front 3-2 with a run in the top of the second on an Annie Heineman RBI single.  Bradley was able to answer with a run in the bottom of the second, however.  Kapp had a two-out single and stole second.  She scored when freshman Erika Hansen (Fillmore, Calif./Moorpark) reached on an error to pull Bradley even again at 3-3.

Jordan de los Reyes led off the Illinois State half of the third with a solo homer to put the Redbirds up 4-3.  King, who led the Braves with seven home runs on the year, ripped a solo shot of her own to tie the game at 4-4 to open the Bradley portion of the third as the Braves once again matched their I-74 rivals.

A Bradley error in the fifth helped lead to a two-run inning for Illinois State and a pair of Redbird home runs in the sixth broke the game opening.  With Illinois State leading 6-4 in the sixth, Stephanie Gallant belted a wind-aided, three-run homer to left center and Payton Billups added a two-run home run later in the frame as the Redbirds built an 11-4 lead.

The Braves kept fighting and rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull within four at 11-7.  Freshman Elizabeth Leonard (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East) got things started with a one-out single and Kapp legged out a triple to left center to drive in Leonard all the way from first.  Schroeder followed with a two-run homer over the center field fence to cut the ISU lead to 11-7, but Romshek got out of the inning without any more damage.

Bradley was retired in order in the seventh as Illinois State advanced to face #3 seed Northern Iowa later this afternoon in the second round of the MVC Tournament with the 11-7 victory.

Kapp, who had the most hits in the MVC since 2011, finished the year with a school record 76 hits to break the 1996 Natalie Quinn school mark of 74.  In addition to tying for the sixth-most hits in a season in league history, Kapp finished the season with the sixth highest average (.386) in Bradley history and best since 1994. 

Schroeder was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI as she ended the season with the most runs scored at Bradley (38) since Laura Harms had 43 runs in 2004. 

King and fellow senior Lexi Cremeens (Dix, Ill./Mount Vernon) were both 2-for-4 as they helped Bradley outhit Illinois State 13-11.  The 2-for-4 effort, helped King finish the season 9-for-12 with a double, two homers and five RBI in four matches with Illinois State in 2015.  She had two RBI and one run as she closed her career fifth in school history with 97 RBI and her 13 career home runs are tied for the sixth best total at Bradley. 

Senior Alyson Spinas-Valainis (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) took the loss for the Braves in the final outing of her career.  She struck out four and scattered five hits in 4.1 innings of work. 

In earlier action at the MVC Tournament Thursday, #8 seed Indiana State rallied to upset #5 seed Southern Illinois 5-3 to advance to the second round.