Bradley softball (13-13) kicked off conference play against Loyola-Chicago, dropping two of three in their first games back at Peterson Hotels Field since May 9.
Playing a doubleheader on Sunday after losing the day prior, the Braves won the first of the twinbill thanks to a walk-off squeeze play put on by head coach Amy Hayes and executed by freshman shortstop Addie Welsh. The roller in between the pitcher and catcher scored freshman pinch hitter Allie Paregien, sealing the 2-1 victory.
“As long as I [could] get that bunt down, we were gonna score,” Welsh said. “I had a good feeling about the whole thing that we were gonna get it done and end up winning that game.”
Welsh also started the scoring for the Braves, leading off the bottom of the sixth with a triple before coming home on a single up the middle by senior Grace French. Knowing her team was struggling with the outside curveball from Ramblers pitcher Andie Broniewicz, Welsh had to gameplan to get around it.
“My approach that at-bat was to find something middle out [and] just take it the other way,” Welsh said. “[I wanted to] hit the ball hard, get on base and create the opportunity to score.”
The two runs were all Bradley could muster for the weekend, as Loyola freshman Peyton Pepkowski threw complete game shutouts in the other two games. The Braves only came up with four hits and struck out 14 times against the MVC Pitcher of the Week in 2-0 and 4-0 losses.
“Pepkowski did a great job and we just did not make any adjustments really going forward, and that’s not like us,” Hayes said. “I think that’s usually one of our strengths, that we recognize where we’re getting beat or what we need to fix and we fix it. This last weekend felt a lot like our first weekend of the season.”
Bradley did, however, get strong performances from the pitching staff. French tied her season high with six strikeouts in a back-and-forth battle with Pepkowski that ended in complete games for both pitchers in the first contest. Freshman Abbott Badgley threw a one-run complete game of her own in the Braves’ victory, picking up her team-leading sixth win in the circle.
Only striking out two Loyola batters, Badgley’s success came from the Braves’ defense.
“I have a lot of confidence in the girls behind me to get the job done,” Badgley said. “My job recently has been to keep hitters off balance, hit my spots, hit my locations and just keep them guessing at what’s coming.”
The strong pitching as of late has helped the Braves give up fewer hits and fewer earned runs than this point in the season a year ago, and Hayes credits it to a different style of pitching as well as new training.
“We changed some things that we do mechanically, and we’re seeing some really good results as far as velocity and spin rate … the kids we have here were open to that,” Hayes said. “I’ve been able to dedicate a lot of time to them this year, and we also have Emma [Percefull] who played here and pitched here, so she helps out, too.”
Hayes is also glad to be playing back at home as she stares down yet another multi-game road trip, starting with a doubleheader tomorrow against Indiana State.
“If you’re a northern school, you’re going to be on the road for six weeks, and we’re happy to be able to have that opening weekend here for conference,” Hayes said.
Despite the lack of success this time around, the players are confident they can right the ship next time they see Pepkowski.
“If we get the chance to hit her again, we know what she’s gonna throw,” Badgley said. “We just need to be a little more locked in on hitting our pitches.”
“I know if we get a chance at her next time in the MVC tournament that we’re going to be prepared and ready to hit her,” Welsh said.
