Bradley claimed the opening game of a doubleheader against Evansville on April 23, winning 10-1 in five innings before dropping the next two games of the series.
The series capped off the Braves’ longest homestand of the year, in which they swept Southern Illinois last weekend and split a Tuesday doubleheader against Illinois State.
The Braves wasted no time heating up their bats, scoring six runs in the first inning of the series. Senior Keeler Van Breuesegen and sophomore Jordy van der Werf drove in two runs each in the inning, along with RBIs from senior Grace French and freshman Katie Pedersen.
Van Bresuegen added another RBI in the second before senior Samantha Smith brought a runner home after being hit by a pitch and freshman Abbott Badgley brought in two with a single in the third.
The Braves triumph was secured by senior Grace French in the circle, who surrendered just one earned run and three hits in five innings of work.
In the second game of the series, the Braves faced a 3-0 deficit after the first inning before climbing back with runs in both the second and third innings until a three-run triple from the Purple Aces put the visitors in the lead for good.
Freshman Addie Welsh, who plated two runs in the second game of the series, knocked two singles in the rubber-match and in fact, all nine of Bradley’s hits were singles in a 6-3 defeat.
After being tied at three after five innings, the Purple Aces scored a trio in the sixth and Aces pitcher Sydney Weatherford finished off a complete game.
Now 23-21 overall and 11-10 in Missouri Valley Conference play, the Braves will travel to Springfield, Missouri to take on the Missouri State Bears in a three-game series. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at noon, as does the final game of the series on Sunday.
