Bradley softball (19-20) split a doubleheader against the Northern Illinois Huskies (10-24) in a day that saw a walk-off Braves victory.
After heading into the bottom of the seventh down four runs, Bradley had to capitalize on their opponents’ mistakes to come back and take the first game at OSF Healthcare Field.
Senior Camryn Schaller took the win in the circle, pitching the final inning and allowing no runs on no hits. Sample went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base. Badgley went 1-for-3 with a walk, four RBIs and a hit-by-pitch.
The Braves led off the scoring in the bottom of the second after a sacrifice fly from sophomore Austin Comstock scored junior Abbott Badgley, putting Bradley up 1-0.
The score did not stay that way for long, as the Huskies put up six in the top of the third with seven hits, a walk, an error and a fielder’s choice, resulting in no outs on the Braves’ side. After another error allowed the leadoff hitter to get to second, the Huskies scored another insurance run in the fifth.
At the bottom of the fifth, the Braves showed some life when sophomore Lauren DeRolf walked, junior Bailey Sample singled, and both of them stole a bag to put runners on second and third. That brought up junior Alyssa Mighell, who reached on an error, scoring DeRolf. Badgley then hit a bases-clearing double to make the score 7-4.
After junior Angela Cirone advanced to third, a miscommunication between the catcher and third basemen allowed Cirone to score on a wild pickoff attempt that wound up in left field.
An error by the Braves in the top of the sixth allowed a run to score with two outs, and a single in the next at-bat drove in another runner, making the score 9-5.
The Braves got one run back in the bottom half after Badgley got hit with a pitch with the bases loaded in an inning where Bradley only got one hit.
The Huskies scored another run in the seventh on a fielder’s choice, resulting in no outs and putting the Braves down 10-6 with one half-inning to go.
Bradley did not give up, and after a leadoff triple from sophomore Ashley Breeding, senior Macey Moore hit an RBI double. Two more Braves reached on errors to bring up Sample, who hit a bases-clearing double to tie the game at ten apiece.
After Sample advanced to third, Badgley hit a fielder’s choice to the second baseman that scored Sample to walk it off. The Braves trailed by six heading into the bottom of the fifth, but still pulled out the win.
Each team made its share of mistakes, as the Huskies finished the game with five errors to the Braves’ three, all while outhitting the Braves 13-7.
In game two, the long ball played a major part in the game’s decision, as Bradley couldn’t construct another comeback. Junior Sydney Kennedy pitched all seven innings, striking out eight and allowing four earned runs on six hits.
The Huskies led the game off with a solo homer to center, putting the Braves down 1-0 early. In the third inning, the Huskies hit a grand slam to left field, putting Bradley in a familiar spot..
The Braves scored in the third off Kennedy’s RBI single to left field, which drove in DeRolf. In the fifth, Badgley’s sacrifice fly allowed DeRolf to score for the second time. Moore scored one more run for the Braves off of her solo homer in the sixth, but it was not enough to keep them from losing this one 5-3.
In this game, DeRolf went 2-for-4, scoring twice and getting stranded once. Kennedy went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Moore went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in a run while hitting the Braves’ only home run.
Bradley takes on UNI next in a three-game series on April 12-14, with the first game starting at 5 p.m.
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