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4
South Alabama USA 8-7
12
Winner Bradley BRAD 7-9
South Alabama USA
8-7
4
Final
12
Bradley BRAD
7-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
South Alabama USA 3 0 1 0 0 4 5 1
Bradley BRAD 2 1 2 2 5 12 5 0

W: French, Grace (2-1) L: S. Yarbrough (2-4)

Duane Zehr

Braves Walk Away With 12-4 Win Over South Alabama

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Game Recap: Softball |
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Bradley Softball managed just five hits off South Alabama, but the Braves drew a school record 13 walks and two of the team's five hits were homers as BU topped the Jaguars 12-4 in five innings Friday afternoon to wrap up the first day of play at the Citrus Classic.
 
Sophomore Taise Thompson went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and four RBI, while junior Sydney Young highlighted a five-run fifth with a two-run inside the park homer to help Bradley (7-9 overall) to its second run-rule victory of the day after the Braves opened the Citrus Classic with a 12-3 win over Purdue in the morning.
 
South Alabama (8-7 overall) drew six walks of its own in the game, with five of those coming in the top of the first.  The Jaguars took advantage of Bradley's early charity and scored three runs on just one hit in the first to take an early 3-0 lead. 
 
The first two Bradley hitters both drew free passes of their own in the bottom half to open what would be a two-run inning.  The bases were loaded after senior Katie Habryle was hit by a pitch and a two-out bases loaded walk later in the inning to Vicki Zaluske drove home a run.  Freshman Samantha Smith drew a four-pitch walk of her own to plate Habryle as the Braves pulled within a run at 3-2. 
 
Freshman Grace French, who took over in the circle for Bradley with no outs and the bases loaded in the first, worked around a one-out walk in the second for a scoreless inning. 
 
Bradley's first hit of the contest was a single to lead off the second by freshman Keeler van Breusegen and walks to fellow freshman Lucy Mead and senior Gabby Stoner loaded the bases once again.  Thompson, who was hit by a pitch in the first inning, was plunked again in the second with two outs and the bases loaded to drive in the tying run (3-3).
 
An Abby Krzywiecki solo homer in the top of the third put South Alabama back in front 4-3, but the Braves would answer with two runs in the bottom half of the frame.  A hit batter and walk to open the inning put a pair on and a two-out error which would have ended the inning allowed two runs to cross as Bradley grabbed a 5-4 lead. 
 
A leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth to pinch hitter Carly Chovanec proved costly for South Alabama.  After getting hit by a pitch in each of her first two at bats, Thompson got revenge by ripping a two-run homer to left to push the Bradley advantage to 7-4. 
 
A five-run bottom of the fifth gave the Braves a 12-4 victory.  Walks to Stoner and sophomore Stacia Seeton started the inning and pinch runner Brooklyn Bane eventually scored on a wild pitch.  Thompson knocked in her fourth run of the game with a RBI ground out as the Braves led 9-4.  A Bradley hitter was hit by a pitch for the fifth time in the game when Zaluske took first after a pitch got away from South Alabama hurler Jamie Finnical. 
 
Slap-hitting Young went the opposite way with a 2-1 pitch and was able to leg out an inside the park homer, pushing the Bradley advantage to 11-4.  The Braves weren't done though, as freshmen Camryn Monteer and van Breusegen drew back-to-back four-pitch walks.  A single to center off the bat of Mead drove in Monteer from second to close out the run-rule victory.
 
Bradley's 13 walks broke the previous school record for walks in a game of 12 set at Indiana State on March 19, 2016.  The Braves scored 12 runs and left 11 on base despite collecting just five hits.
 
French struck out a season-high seven batters and picked up the win out of the bullpen to improve her record to 2-1 on the season.  She scattered five hits and gave up just one run in her 5.0 innings of work.
 
Bradley continues play at the Citrus Classic Saturday with rematches against both Purdue and South Alabama.  Action gets under way with an 11 a.m. (CST) game against Purdue followed by a 1:30 p.m. (CST) contest against South Alabama. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Bane

#20 Brooklyn Bane

OF
5' 8"
Junior
L/R
Katie Habryle

#25 Katie Habryle

C/IF
5' 9"
Senior
R/R
Stacia Seeton

#13 Stacia Seeton

OF
5' 9"
Sophomore
R/R
Gabby Stoner

#11 Gabby Stoner

OF/U
5' 10"
Senior
L/R
Taise Thompson

#1 Taise Thompson

P/U
5' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Sydney Young

#10 Sydney Young

OF
5' 2"
Junior
L/R
Vicki Zaluske

#34 Vicki Zaluske

IF
5' 5"
Sophomore
R/R
Carly Chovanec

#9 Carly Chovanec

C/UT
5' 7"
Freshman
L/R
Grace French

#32 Grace French

P/UT
5' 4"
Freshman
R/R
Lucy Mead

#4 Lucy Mead

IF/UT
5' 8"
Freshman
L/R

Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Bane

#20 Brooklyn Bane

5' 8"
Junior
L/R
OF
Katie Habryle

#25 Katie Habryle

5' 9"
Senior
R/R
C/IF
Stacia Seeton

#13 Stacia Seeton

5' 9"
Sophomore
R/R
OF
Gabby Stoner

#11 Gabby Stoner

5' 10"
Senior
L/R
OF/U
Taise Thompson

#1 Taise Thompson

5' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
P/U
Sydney Young

#10 Sydney Young

5' 2"
Junior
L/R
OF
Vicki Zaluske

#34 Vicki Zaluske

5' 5"
Sophomore
R/R
IF
Carly Chovanec

#9 Carly Chovanec

5' 7"
Freshman
L/R
C/UT
Grace French

#32 Grace French

5' 4"
Freshman
R/R
P/UT
Lucy Mead

#4 Lucy Mead

5' 8"
Freshman
L/R
IF/UT