After going 1-4 in its season-opening series, Bradley softball (4-5) is starting to hit an early-season groove after going 3-1 at the Roar City Invite this past weekend.
“I feel like we played a lot better and we cleaned some things up,” Braves head coach Amy Hayes said. “We had a few defensive miscues, so [we’re] still working on that, but we knocked out a ton of hits, which is much better than the weekend before.”
The trip started with a matchup versus reigning MAC champion Miami (Ohio). After giving up seven runs in the fifth to trail 7-2, the Braves had a hill to climb.
Bradley entered its part of the sixth trailing 7-4, but a Jordy van der Werf 2-RBI double would put the Braves down by a single run, bringing up senior Samantha Smith.
Just like a storybook ending, Smith found her pitch, and sent one over the outfield fence, giving the Braves the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the sixth. A scoreless seventh would follow, and the Braves would take the first matchup of the invite by a final tally of 8-7. Smith described the feeling in the dugout after the comeback.
“Everyone was going crazy,” Smith said. “It was a late night, it was freezing, but we were warm after that.”
The energy from the thrilling opening win carried over to the next day as the Braves rolled tournament host Tennessee State. Notching 16 hits for 13 runs, Bradley blew by the Tigers with a score of 13-4. Freshman pitcher Abbott Badgley pitched five innings of four-run ball in the contest, earning the win. Smith followed up her game-winning performance by going 4-4 at the plate, including a solo shot and a 2-RBI double.
After taking the first two contests in Nashville, the Braves returned later that day to keep their bats alive versus IUPUI.
Senior pitcher Grace French made life excruciating for the Jaguars at the plate, striking out four and giving up just two hits, one walk and one run in a complete-game performance. The bats had another promising performance, with six runs crossing the plate in the fourth, helping the Braves achieve a 7-1 victory, and pushing their winning streak to three.
“They’re proving to themselves they can do it,” Hayes said.
On the final day of the invite, the Braves matched up with Miami (Ohio) once more. This time the bats were quiet on both sides, with the Red Hawks squeaking two runs across the plate on four hits to halt the Braves win streak with a 2-0 loss.
“Sunday was a good game; we played a clean defensive game,” Hayes said. “We had been very disciplined for the three games before that [but versus] Miami we were just watching strikes and swinging at balls.”
After the successful 3-1 weekend, the Braves return home with a 4-5 record, but in much better shape than before. Over the weekend, the Braves hit .254 as a team and scored 28 runs in four games, an improvement from their offensive showing at the Kickoff Classic. On the flip side, the Braves committed nine errors over the weekend, something they’ll have to clean up before their next weekend trip.
Up next for the Braves is the Plainsman Invite in Auburn, Alabama, a five-game invite in three days that includes the likes of Syracuse (8-2), Louisiana-Monroe (10-2) and nationally ranked No. 21 Auburn (9-1), but Hayes hopes to focus on “what’s on our chest, not theirs.”
The Braves will kick off the Plainsman Invite today versus Delaware State at 11:30, followed by Syracuse in the nightcap at 7:30.
