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Softball swept in Georgia after schedule changes

After winter weather forced the cancellation of Bradley softball’s scheduled tournament in Tennessee, the team scrambled to find a place to play last weekend. Eventually, the Braves went down to Georgia, looking for a win to steal.

But, they didn’t find one. Bradley lost all four games in Statesboro, Georgia, dropping the team’s record to 2-12 on the season.

The Braves started the tournament by dropping the first game to Eastern Kentucky University 9-8. Bradley trailed most of the game but rallied thanks to a two-out single off the bat of freshman Erika Hansen to tie the game at 7. The Colonels would plate two more runs to break the tie, and Bradley’s rally in the bottom of the sixth came up short.

Senior Alyson Spinas-Valainis pitched the final 1 2/3 innings of game one for Bradley, allowing one hit.

The senior would start the second game of the day for the Braves, tossing a career-high 8 1/3 innings before being removed from the game. Bradley would lose the game to Georgia Southern 3-2 in extra innings.

The two outings by Spinas-Valainis last Saturday illustrated the point head coach Amy Hayes made when she noted that the Braves’ win-loss record is deceiving.

“There’s clearly progression upward, but if people just look at wins and losses, they’re not going to see that,” Hayes said. “If all we care about were wins and losses, then our team would be done at this point. When you’re playing at this level, it can’t just be about that. You have to look at the progress that the team is making.”

That progress failed to translate into victories Sunday, with Bradley blowing a four-run lead against North Carolina before falling in another extra-inning contest to Dayton.

As good as Bradley’s pitching was Saturday, the hitting was better Sunday. Sophomore outfielder Kelly Kapp went 3-for-5 while freshman catcher Maria Schroeder picked up a pair of hits in five at-bats against North Carolina while Hansen tallied two hits and an RBI against the Flyers.

Bradley’s top three hitters in batting average so far this season are freshmen or sophomores, followed by junior Kathryn Spenn.

Specifically, Hayes noted Schroeder’s performance, considering the freshman started the season with a less-than-significant role.

“Maria started off as a part-time player that first weekend and did well,” Hayes said. “She was 2-for-3, and that obviously got her more playing time in weekend two, and she hit .600. This last weekend she fell off a little bit but still hit .267 and had four RBIs. That’s a lot to be said for a freshman who suddenly not only entered the starting lineup but entered the starting lineup as a catcher.”

Schroeder replaced Spenn in the Braves’ starting order, allowing Spenn to be the team’s designated player and focus on her hitting. She entered the weekend sporting a mere .148 average but had raised it nearly 100 points by the end of the tournament.

“I was just trying to keep a positive attitude about it,” Spenn said. “You know the game itself is inconsistent, but that’s the thing that never really should change is your attitude and your effort. I think I just really focused on that pretty much this whole season. I know the good things are going to come if I keep working.”

Hayes said defense is something the team needs to work on, noting that improving Bradley defensively could benefit the team in other aspects. Bradley has collected 26 errors in 83 innings so far this season, the most in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), and the team’s .928 fielding percentage is the lowest in the conference.

“I think that if we just tweak some things defensively, that’ll help,” Hayes said. “We are only returning two starters to our infield; [Alyson] Clemente was a pretty big loss. We’ve gone from that first weekend where there wasn’t anything to be fielded because we were giving up some pretty big shots to more ground balls and stuff. I think we were a little bit exposed.”

Despite the poor start, Hayes said she still believes the team could compete for another MVC title.
“We knew that this season was going to be a process; we probably weren’t going to come out guns a ‘blazin for various reasons, but we still feel pretty strongly about what we can do in the Valley,” Hayes said.

Bradley softball will play in the Sand Dollar Invitational in Gulf Shores, Alabama after the team’s scheduled tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee was cancelled. The team will face Belmont twice along with Eastern Kentucky and Murray State.

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