After a slow start to the season, Bradley softball (17-17, 7-4 MVC) hovered around .500 at the beginning of March, but they had the opportunity to finish the month with a positive record if they could sweep a reeling Beacons team (7-20, 1-5 MVC).
The Braves looked well on their way to escaping the weekend with a winning record through the first two games, but took a tough loss in extra innings in the final bout.
Offensive explosion fuels comeback
Valparaiso dominated at the start of the first game. The Beacons scored three times in the first inning, including a home run from senior Alexis Johnson. Both defenses held in the second before a single to left center grew Valparaiso’s lead to four in the bottom of the third.
After registering two hits through the first four innings, the Braves needed an uptick in offense to win the game.
They did just that, exploding in the fifth inning for seven runs.
Junior infielder Bailey Sample led the charge with a single that allowed sophomore right fielder Lauren DeRolf to score following her triple. A few plays later, junior Sydney Kennedy entered as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded and knocked the ball out of the park. The grand slam gave Bradley a 5-4 lead.
“We weren’t sticking with our offensive plans to start the game,” head coach Sarah Willis said. “The lineup started to adjust, and our pinch hitters off the bench were clutch to solidify the extra runs we needed.”
After Kennedy’s homer, the Braves kept their momentum going, scoring two more runs on doubles from sophomores Austin Comstock and Kierston McCoy.
The offensive explosion led to a 7-4 lead, ultimately giving Bradley the win.
On the defensive end, junior pitcher Abbott Badgley earned her fifth win after relieving Kennedy in the second inning. Badgley pitched six innings and recorded two strikeouts and one earned run.
Kennedy bounces back
After leaving the mound in the series’ opener, Kennedy continued her stellar season in the circle during Saturday’s doubleheader.
Kennedy pitched a one-hitter in ten innings, tossing nine strikeouts. The junior controlled the game and held steady despite the Braves’ offensive struggles. Through seven innings, the score was tied at zero and the game went into extra innings.
“Kennedy did a great job coming back from a rough first game in the series and threw her game,” Willis said. “The offense was making some loud outs early, but again, the lineup drifted away from the plan.”
Similar to the first game, Kennedy came through clutch in extras, hitting her way into a fielder’s choice and setting up a runner for Bradley.
McCoy and senior Macey Moore were walked back-to-back, which set the stage for a three-run double from graduate student Tori Meyer. The hit gave the Braves a 3-0 lead and a 2-0 lead in the series.
Ten innings down, 10 more to go
With the series won, the Braves were looking for the sweep, and the second game of the day was just as highly competitive as the first.
The Beacons took an early lead in the second inning on a single to center field from senior Emily Crompton. The Braves responded in the third, tying the game on a solo shot from Sample.
Bradley and Valparaiso traded blows in the fifth and seventh, but neither team broke the tie and the game went to extra innings for the second time in the series.
Unfortunately, the Braves could not pull off any more clutch heroics in the series’ final game. Valparaiso won on an error from Bradley in the 10th.
Bradley is back in action against Southern Illinois today, starting a three-game series and a nine-game homestand.
