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Softball looks to finsh season on high note

Screen shot 2014-04-24 at 10.06.27 PMFollowing a Tuesday loss to rival Illinois State, the softball team returned to practice Wednesday for its last home series of the year against Northern Iowa.

As of now, the softball team stands on the edge of breaking the school record for conference wins, for which it’s currently tied with the 2009 Braves softball squad at 12 total wins.

However, Coach Amy Hayes said breaking the record that she set five years ago is the last thing on her mind.

“We don’t think about it too much,” Hayes said. “It’s a nice milestone, but we have more games to win.”

The hunger that Hayes has, is now reflects onto the players, as they share the same ideals.

“It’s a great accomplishment, but we’re not done,” senior outfielder Mariah Cole said. “We have two more series left, and we’re really excited.”

The Braves tied the record for conference wins with a 6-3 win against the Sycamores of Indiana State.

Coming off of a Friday where they split with the Sycamores with a five-inning 13-3 win and a 2-1 loss, the Braves came in to the game looking to take the series against Indiana State.

The Braves struck first by scoring three in the bottom half of the second, sparked by an RBI double by senior shortstop Alex Chandler, who went 3-4 in the game and scored two RBIs.

Chandler also broke Amy Pera’s 19-year-old career assist record in the sixth inning on a groundout to shortstop.

Alyson Clemente, Kendall Duffy, Brittany Burgess and Shannon King all added at least one RBI, while senior Madeline Lynch-Crumrine pitched a complete game to earn her 15th win of the season.

Following the series win against the Sycamores, the Braves then moved on to face the rival Redbirds from Illinois State.

A win would’ve taken the season series against the Redbirds and would have also broken the Bradley record for conference wins in a season.

Unfortunately, the Redbirds were too much, as they fought off a late rally to win 6-3 and forced the Braves to keep waiting for that record-breaking win.

“They always battle when they play us, and we’re always battling when we play them,” Cole said. “It’s a good competition.”

The Braves held a slim 1-0 lead that Illinois State tied in the fourth-inning with an RBI single.

The Redbirds then loaded the bases, which led to ISU’s Regan Romshek’s grand slam that put the Braves in a hole they never recovered from, as ISU took the game 6-3 and the series two games to one.

“They’ve been our biggest competition since I was a freshman,” Cole said. “Even though it didn’t end the way we wanted, we still fought.”

Even though the Braves are on the verge on a record-breaking season, their eyes still remain on the bigger picture: the NCAA tournament.

“We want more,” Hayes said. “This team has proved that we can win throughout the Valley. [There are] six games left; we certainly don’t want to drop, and we want to get more.”

For the seniors, they want to leave a specific legacy that is remembered for years to come.

“We wanted to leave a lasting mark on all these girls and this program, just by changing it,” Cole said. “It’s definitely more of a winning culture now.”

 

Chris Kwiecinski is the Scout’s Sports Reporter. You can also follow him on Twitter @OchoK41.

 

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