Bradley University Athletics

Grace French Named MVC Player Of The Week

Softball 4/5/2022 12:31:00 PM

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- For the second time this season Bradley Softball boasts the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, with senior pitcher/utility Grace French earning the honor after helping the Braves to a series sweep at Valparaiso over the weekend according to announcement by the league office Tuesday afternoon.

French, who earned the award for the first time in her career, joins fellow senior Samantha Smith (March 1) as MVC Player of the Week honorees from Bradley this season. The Braves have four MVC Player or Newcomer of the Week award winners in 2022, marking the first time since 2018 that Bradley had four MVC Weekly Award winners in the same season.

French hit a team-best .571 in four games (8-for-14), slugging three doubles and one homer while helping Bradley to a 3-1 record. She drove in two and scored five runs in the four contests and stole a pair of bases, while boasting a .625 OBP and 1.000 slugging percentage. In addition, she was 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA in three appearances (18.1 innings pitched). The senior had three multi-hit games in Bradley's four road outings and reached base 11 times in her 16 plate appearances.

Last Monday at Indiana State, French was 2-for-3 with a double, walk and run scored in a 5-4 setback to conclude the series with the Sycamores. She went 6-for-11 (.545) in the weekend series at Valparaiso, helping Bradley sweep a three-game MVC road series for the first time since 2019. In Saturday's series opener against the Beacons she reached base in all four plate appearances, going 3-for-4 with a double in addition to picking up the win in a complete game effort as she held Valpo to three hits.

French opened Sunday's doubleheader by going 2-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBI and a home run. After scoring runs in the first and third innings, French gave Bradley a 10-6 lead with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. She capped the weekend by going 1-for-4 with a double and run scored to highlight a 4-3 victory in the series finale. French was the winning pitcher in the final game of the series.

This season, French is hitting .296 and leads the team with 21 RBI. She also owns a team-best 2.72 ERA and has held hitters to a .238 average, while pacing the Braves in innings pitched (79.2), complete games (8) and strikeouts (51).

French and the Braves return to action this weekend, closing out a nine-game MVC road swing with a three-game series at Drake Saturday and Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French: P/UT; 5' 4"; Senior; R/R

#12 Samantha Smith: OF/C; 5' 6"; Senior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French
: 5' 4"; Senior; R/R
: P/UT

#12 Samantha Smith
: 5' 6"; Senior; R/R
: OF/C

Grace French Named MVC Player Of The Week

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French

#12 Samantha Smith

Players Mentioned

#32 Grace French

#12 Samantha Smith