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Bradley University Athletics

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3
Illinois State ILS 18-21, 8-7 MVC
4
Winner Bradley BRAD 21-18, 9-7 MVC
Illinois State ILS
18-21, 8-7 MVC
3
Final
4
Bradley BRAD
21-18, 9-7 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Illinois State ILS 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 8 2
Bradley BRAD 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 4 8 0

W: French, Grace (7-8) L: Ross, Hannah (9-9)

6
Winner Illinois State ILS 19-21, 9-7 MVC
1
Bradley BRAD 21-19, 9-8 MVC
Winner
Illinois State ILS
19-21, 9-7 MVC
6
Final
1
Bradley BRAD
21-19, 9-8 MVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Illinois State ILS 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 6 7 1
Bradley BRAD 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1

W: Fox, Amanda (10-10) L: Badgley, Abbott (6-3)

Grace French Walk Off Celebration

Softball Splits Doubleheader With Illinois State

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Game Recap: Softball |
PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Softball picked up its third walk-off victory in four outings, rallying for a 4-3 victory over I-74 rival Illinois State in the opener of a Tuesday doubleheader at Petersen Hotels at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex before the Redbirds took game two of the twinbill 6-1.
 
Coming off a three-game sweep of Southern Illinois, which included a pair of walk-off victories, Bradley (21-19 overall, 9-8 MVC) once again showed a flair for the dramatic with a late rally in the opener to top Illinois State (19-21 overall, 9-7 MVC) 4-3 on a seventh-inning RBI double by Grace French.
 
The Redbirds rebounded to win game two of the midweek doubleheader by the score of 6-1.  The doubleheader split moved Bradley up one spot in the Missouri Valley Conference standings into a tie for fourth with SIU at 9-8, one-half game behind Illinois State for third. 
 
In the opener, Bradley had early scoring chances but left two runners on in both the first and second innings.  The Braves finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the third.  Lucy Mead, who had hits in both contests to give her a career-best 10-game hit streak, led off the Bradley third with a single and moved to third on a ground out and wild pitch.  Senior Samantha Smith drove in Mead with a sacrifice fly to give the Braves a 1-0 advantage. 
 
Illinois State answered with a run in the top of the fourth after Emme Olson tripled to open the frame and scored on a sacrifice fly to knot the score at 1-1. 
 
Bradley retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth.  Senior Camryn Monteer had a leadoff single and stole second before eventually scoring on a French single up the middle as the Braves went back in front 2-1.
 
The lead was short lived, however, with Jayden Standish giving Illinois State a 3-2 lead with a two-run homer in the top of the sixth. 
 
After coming up with big hits in the late innings of both of last Friday's wins against Southern Illinois, freshman Addie Welsh came through in the clutch once again with a two-out triple to right in the bottom of the sixth and was able to race home on a wild pitch to tie the score at 3-3. 
 
Welsh came up with a pair of big defensive plays in the top of the seventh as French and the Braves retired the Redbirds in order. 
 
In the bottom half of the seventh, Monteer started a rally with a one-out single and moved to second on a groundout.  French ripped a two-out double to right to plate Monteer with the game winner as the Braves picked up their fourth-straight one-run victory with a 4-3 win. 
 
French went 3-for-4 with two RBI to help her own cause in the opener as she picked up the complete game victory in the circle for the Braves to improve to 7-8 on the year. Bradley's fourth straight one-run win marked the team's longest streak of one-run victories for the Braves dating back to 1994. 
 
In the nightcap, Illinois State's Amanda Fox held Bradley to just four hits and one unearned run in a complete game effort.  The Redbirds gave her early run support with Dayna Kennedy smacking a two-run homer in the second and ISU adding three more runs in the third.
 
Bradley's lone run came in the bottom of the second.  Freshman Abbott Badgley led off the third with a single and advanced all the way to third on an Illinois State error on the play.  Badgley cut the ISU lead in half at 2-1 when she scored on a Keeler van Breusegen sacrifice fly. 
 
Illinois State was able to push three runs across in the top of the third, however, to build a 5-1 advantage.  Kennedy had the big hit of the frame for the Redbirds with a two-run single. 
 
Sophomore Camryn Schaller was solid out of the bullpen for the Braves, coming on to close out the third inning.  She went on to strike out a season-best seven batters in 4.2 innings of work, scattering three hits and giving up only one run.  In fact, Schaller retired the last nine batters she faced after surrendering a leadoff single to start the fifth. 
 
Illinois State managed to add an insurance run in the fourth and Bradley had just one runner advance past second base after scoring its lone run of the contest in the second inning.
 
Bradley closes out an eight-game home stand this weekend, hosting Evansville in a three-game series Saturday and Sunday. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Grace French

#32 Grace French

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

#4 Lucy Mead

IF/UT
5' 8"
Senior
L/R
Camryn Monteer

#23 Camryn Monteer

IF/UT
5' 5"
Senior
L/R
Camryn Schaller

#9 Camryn Schaller

P/UT
5' 8"
Sophomore
L/R
Samantha Smith

#12 Samantha Smith

OF/C
5' 6"
Senior
R/R
Keeler van Breusegen

#8 Keeler van Breusegen

OF
5' 4"
Senior
R/R
Addie Welsh

#5 Addie Welsh

SS
5' 5"
Freshman
R/R
Abbott Badgley

#6 Abbott Badgley

RHP
5' 9"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Grace French

#32 Grace French

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

#4 Lucy Mead

5' 8"
Senior
L/R
IF/UT
Camryn Monteer

#23 Camryn Monteer

5' 5"
Senior
L/R
IF/UT
Camryn Schaller

#9 Camryn Schaller

5' 8"
Sophomore
L/R
P/UT
Samantha Smith

#12 Samantha Smith

5' 6"
Senior
R/R
OF/C
Keeler van Breusegen

#8 Keeler van Breusegen

5' 4"
Senior
R/R
OF
Addie Welsh

#5 Addie Welsh

5' 5"
Freshman
R/R
SS
Abbott Badgley

#6 Abbott Badgley

5' 9"
Freshman
R/R
RHP