PEORIA, IL – The Bradley Braves Softball team fell in a midweek doubleheader to Northern Iowa.
Game 1
The Braves lost a 10-9 thriller to start the afternoon. In the bottom of the first inning with two outs, senior
Austin Comstock hit a solo home run. After the Panthers tied the game at one in the top of the second, junior
Hilary Wilson answered in the bottom of that frame with a two-run home run, giving Bradley a 3-1 lead. UNI answered back, exiting the third tied at three, then leaving the top of the fourth inning with an 8-3 advantage. Trailing by five in the bottom of the fifth with bases loaded, sophomore
Olivia Turner stepped up to the plate and delivered a bases-clearing double.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, junior
Ella Shafer started things off with a triple, followed by senior
Kierston McCoy, who logged a four-pitch walk. Sophomore
Morgan Schlosser hit Shafer home with a single. Senior
Ashley Breeding singled to load the bases, yet with two outs. Then, sophomore
Emily Organ hit a two-RBI single, giving Bradley their first lead since the second frame, a 9-8 edge. Eight Braves stepped up to the dish in the sixth inning, as six of them reached base. The Panthers hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to reclaim their lead.
Freshman
Gianna Hillegonds came in to get the Braves out of the fourth-inning jam. In her 3.2 innings of work in the circle, Hillegonds allowed just two hits and a pair of runs, the home run in the seventh. She retired the other 10 batters with ease, recording one strikeout with no walks. Shafer, Turner, Comstock and Schlosser each recorded a pair of hits, all but Schlosser recording a single and an extra base hit. Schlosser notched two singles in game one. The Braves out-hit UNI 11-7. Wilson worked two walks in the contest. Three Braves had more than one RBI: the five, six and eight hole hitters. Turner led the charge with three, as Organ and Wilson had two. Turner got to third base in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but did not score a run herself.
Game 2
The Braves fell in the second game, 9-0. Senior
Kinsley Robertson and the Braves kept the game knotted at zero through the first four innings. Robertson logged six strikeouts, the most in her Bradley and Division One career. McCoy, Turner, Wilson and Breeding each singled in the second game of the afternoon.
Up Next...
The Braves' season concludes in a weekend series against Illinois State, beginning on Friday, May 1st at OSF Healthcare Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, IL. First pitch of the Friday doubleheader is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.
