Aces fall to Bradley in season finale
Bradley plated two runs in the first inning and held strong from there, defeating the University of Evansville softball team by a 4-2 final on Sunday afternoon in Peoria.
With the loss, the Purple Aces (15-34, 8-18 MVC) complete the season while Bradley finished up the regular season campaign at 20-29 and 9-15 in the Valley.
Morgan Florey went the distance for UE, giving up four runs on four hits while striking out ten. UE notched six hits on the day with Ashleigh Downing posting two. Allison Apke had all four runs batted in for BU while Emma Jackson tossed a complete game in the circle.
In the bottom of the first inning, Apke put the Braves on the board with a 2-run home run. Evansville’s offense was led by Ashleigh Downing, who had the first two hits of the day for the Purple Aces.
UE cut the Bradley lead in half in the top sixth when a McKenzie Johnson single brought home Brittany Hay, who reached on a fielders choice earlier in the frame. The Braves struck again in the bottom of the 6th when Apke had a 2-RBI double to push the lead to 4-1.
Evansville never gave up as Jaime Nurrenbern came through in the seventh with a pinch hit double. Eryn Gould brought her home with an RBI hit to make it the final of 4-2.
Morgan Florey finished her junior season with a program record of 303 strikeouts, including 26 last weekend against Southern Illinois, the top total in the NCAA this season. Brittany Hay completed her senior season with a team-high 27 RBI while Lindsay Renneisen paced UE with 8 home runs.
Fellow freshman Eryn Gould led the offense with a .377 average while scoring a team-high 28 runs in her first collegiate season.
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