Northern Iowa UNI 31-13, 22-2 MVC

Bradley BRAD 25-25, 13-14 MVC

Northern Iowa UNI

31-13, 22-2 MVC

Final

May. 08, 2022

Bradley BRAD

25-25, 13-14 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Northern Iowa UNI	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Bradley BRAD	0	0	0	0	0	2	X	2	6	0

W: French, Grace (10-10) L: PACKARD, Kailyn (19-6)

Box Score

Josh Schwam

Braves Top UNI 2-1 On Senior Day To Earn #5 Seed

Game Recap: Softball | 5/8/2022 2:35:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. – Senior Grace French gave up just one hit and faced one over the minimum in a complete game effort and seniors Samantha Smith and Keeler van Breusegen keyed a sixth-inning rally as Bradley Softball topped Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion Northern Iowa 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex to wrap up the regular season.

Bradley (25-25 overall, 13-14 MVC) locked up the #5 seed for the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which will be held Wednesday through Saturday in Springfield, Mo., in addition to snapping Northern Iowa's (31-13 overall, 22-2 MVC) 17-game conference win streak with the victory.

French struck out five and allowed just two Panthers to reach base as she picked up her 10^th victory of the season. The lone UNI hitter to reach base in the first three innings came on a two-out walk to Emmy Wells in the second. The free pass to Wells was quickly erased, however, with Jordy van der Werf throwing out pinch runner Maggie Erpelding trying to steal second to end the inning.

UNI's lone hit came in the top of the fourth with freshman Mya Dodge slugging a leadoff homer to right center as the Panthers grabbed a 1-0 lead.

Bradley had just three hits off UNI starter Kailyn Packard through the first five innings, before rallying in the sixth. French got the rally started with a one-out double and came home on a two-out double to right center by Smith to tie the game up at 1-1. Van Breusegen drove in the game-winning run with a RBI single up the middle as Smith raced home to put the Braves in front 2-1.

Three straight groundouts in the seventh, including a diving play by freshman Addie Welsh at shortstop for the third out of the game, closed out the victory.

Ending the regular-season with a walk off web gem! SS Addie Welsh➡️1B Katie Pederson to complete P Grace French's 1-hitter and lock up the 2-1 win vs UNI. @espn #SCTop10 @NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/LNTsileyQa
— Bradley Softball (@BradleySoftball) May 8, 2022

Bradley had several early scoring chances, but came up empty. In the bottom of the first, senior Camryn Monteer led off the inning with a walk and senior Lucy Mead followed with her sixth hit of the series. Three straight strikeouts ended the threat, however, as Bradley left runners at the corners.

The Braves also stranded runners in the third and fourth, with Bradley unable to take advantage of a one-out Monteer single in the third as she ended up stranded at second. In the fourth, Smith had a one-out single, but the Braves left a runner at first.

Bradley earned the #5 seed for the MVC Championship and will play Thursday at 11 a.m. against the winner of Wednesday's opening-round contest between #8 Loyola and #9 Evansville.

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