Aces home on Wednesday to face Kent State
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In a back-and-forth game on Sunday at Cooper Stadium, Bradley came away with an 8-7 victory over the University of Evansville softball team.
A wild game saw three lead changes and an hour-long fourth inning with nine combined runs scored. Morgan Florey went the distance, allowing 8 runs, just three earned while striking out eight batters. The Aces (12-14, 4-2 MVC) out hit Bradley (17-15, 3-3 MVC), 13-7. Michal Luckett, Florey, Chandra Parr, Courtney Land and Ashlee Kawall each had two hits apiece.
Chandra Parr got the game rolling in the bottom of the first inning. With Brittany Hay on third and two outs on the board, Parr hit the 29th home run of her career to give UE a 2-0 lead. She is just one away from tying the program mark. In the next inning, Evansville loaded up the bases, but was unable to push any across the plate.
Bradley took advantage in the ensuing frame. Kelly Kapp walked to lead off the inning and stole second. That steal set the all-time MVC mark with 93. She would later score one of two runs in the inning. Four more runs scored for BU in the fourth as UE committed three errors and had a passed ball.
Trailing 6-2, Morgan Lambert started the bottom half of the fourth off with a home run. With one out, Ashlee Kawall notched a hit to right-center before Tess Hupe drew a walk and Brittany Hay was hit by a pitch to load up the bases for Michal Luckett. She came through with a 2-run single as the Aces got within one. Morgan Florey knotted the game back up at 6-6 as she singled to center before Hayli Scott hit a long double to left as the Aces grabbed a 7-6 advantage.
The Braves came right back with the game-tying run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Megan Mahaffy. They added the game-winner in the top of the seventh to take the 8-7 win.
Kent State comes to town for a doubleheader on Wednesday. The games are set for 3 and 5 p.m. at Cooper Stadium.
