Following a sweep at the hands of Southern Illinois in the team’s Missouri Valley Conference opener, Bradley softball returned to Laura Bradley Park last weekend looking for a conference victory.
Knocking off Missouri State in the team’s home opener 5-1 gave them just that. With a few more bounces, however, the team could have had a sweep.
Last Saturday, the Braves had a solid performance in the circle from senior Alyson Spinas-Valainis. The right-hander tossed a complete game, her ninth on the season, allowing just one run on five hits in the process. Spinas-Valainis also struck out five batters, but it was the five walks she surrendered in the process that head coach Amy Hayes said may impact how Spinas-Valainis feels about her performance.
“I think that was probably the thing that frustrated [Spinas-Valainis] the most,” Hayes said. “She walked more people than she wanted to this weekend and more people than she has in a while…It was still a good game no matter what. I felt like she made pretty good pitches when she needed to.”
In the second game on Saturday, the Braves and Missouri State were scoreless until the fifth inning when Mary Stephens homered for the Bears, putting them up 1-0. Stephens would go 5-for-5 with two singles, two doubles and that home run for Missouri State.
Stephens tied the game at two in the top of the sixth with another base hit, giving the Braves a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on third, Missouri State made a defensive substitution. The Bears moved 5’5” shortstop Elena Gambill to third base and replaced her with 5’10” junior Erin Duewel, who immediately dove to snag a line drive off the bat of Kathryn Spenn to end the inning. Missouri State would win the game with a run in the top of the eighth.
Bradley’s bad-luck run continued into the rubber match Sunday. Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded, senior Shannon King ripped a ball into left field that Duewel leaped up and grabbed to end the game.
It’s been that type of season for King, who flew out to the warning track and had another line drive snagged by a leaping outfielder during Sunday’s game alone. Her average sits at just .157 on the season, nearly half of the .302 mark she put up in 2014.
King says she’s just going to keep rolling with the punches this season and not let her stats affect her play on the field.
“I’ve talked to the coaches and a good amount of people about it,” King said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes into the psychology of being a senior athlete but I’ve basically gone with just keep going. [I’m going to] enjoy my senior year and not really worry about the stats and everything and just be happy with the way I play and my performance that day.”
Part of Bradley’s problem Sunday could be traced back to the 10 runners left on base, seven of which came in the final three innings. Hayes said she was not sure what the Braves could have done differently.
