5
Winner
Bradley
BRAD
23-21, 11-10 MVC
2
Illinois State
ILS
19-25, 9-11 MVC
Winner
Bradley
BRAD
23-21, 11-10 MVC
5
2
Illinois State
ILS
19-25, 9-11 MVC
Score By Periods
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
Bradley
BRAD
|
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
10 |
0 |
|
Illinois State
ILS
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
W: French, Grace (9-8)
L: Ross, Hannah (9-13)
NORMAL, Ill. – Bradley Softball belted three homers, including two solo shots in the seventh, and senior Grace French scattered six hits in a complete game effort as the Braves claimed the regular-season series from I-74 rival Illinois State with a 5-2 road win against the Redbirds Wednesday afternoon at Marian Kneer Stadium.
French gave up six singles and two walks in the complete game victory, improving her record to 9-8 on the year. Collecting her 12th complete game effort of the season, French now has the most wins in a season (9) since Megan Mahaffy earned nine victories in 2019 in addition to pushing career win total among the top 10 in school history.
Bradley (23-21 overall, 11-10 MVC) moved into a tie with Southern Illinois for fourth in the MVC standings and won the season series from Illinois State (19-25 overall, 9-11 MVC) for the third time in the last four seasons the teams have met.
Freshman Abbott Badgley gave Bradley a 1-0 lead with her team-leading sixth homer of the year, smacking an opposite-field, solo blast in the top of the second.
Senior Lucy Mead sparked a two-out Bradley rally in the top of the third. She extended her hit streak to 14 games with a two-out single and French was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. Senior Samantha Smith roped a double down the right field line to drive in both base runners as the Braves grabbed a 3-0 lead.
French retired the first eight batters she faced, before Illinois State got a two-out single in the bottom of the third. She got out of a jam in the fourth with the Redbirds putting two on with back-to-back one-out singles. French escaped with a pop out and a comebacker to get out of the inning unscathed.
In the bottom of the fifth, Illinois State's Dayna Kennedy led off the inning with a single and a walk by Michele Calabrese put two runners on for Reili Gardner, who ripped a RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate a run. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Delainey Bryant drove home Calabrese from third to cut the Bradley lead to 3-2. Illinois State left the tying run at third, however, with French getting a groundout to get out of the inning with Bradley still holding a 3-2 advantage.
Bradley tried to mount another two-out rally in the top of the sixth. Badgley was hit by a pitch with two outs and Keeler van Breusegen followed with an infield single to put two on. Illinois State hurler Amanda Fox got a strikeout to end the inning as the Braves stranded a pair.
Illinois State threatened again with a two-out rally attempt in the bottom of the sixth after a single and walk put two on for the Redbirds. Freshman Addie Welsh was able to deflect a ball hit up the middle to Mead, who was standing on the bag at second to get the final out of the sixth.
Bradley added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Sophomore Jordy van der Werf gave Bradley a 4-2 lead with a solo homer to lead off the frame and Mead added a two-out solo shot of her own to push the BU advantage to 5-2.
French, who struck out four on the day, followed a groundout to open the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back strikeouts to seal the 5-2 victory.
Bradley heads to Springfield, Mo., for a weekend series at Missouri State to close out the 2022 regular-season road slate. The Braves and Bears open the series Saturday with a noon doubleheader.
