Southern Utah Tops Bradley Despite Big Hitting Efforts

Senior Kelly Kapp extended her hit streak to a season-best 11 games with a 2-for-5 effort and was one of four Bradley players with multi-hit outings, but tournament-host Southern Utah topped the Braves 10-7 to close out the Beehive Classic Sunday afternoon.
 
Southern Utah (4-14 overall) jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the first, before a seven-run second inning gave Bradley (14-11 overall) a 7-3 advantage.  Junior Elizabeth Leonard opened the scoring for the Braves in the second with a two-run, bases loaded double to right center.
 
Kapp singled to load the bases and junior Maria Schroeder followed with a bases loaded walk as she matched her RBI total from the 2016 season with her 25th RBI of the year.  Senior Caitlyn McCarron drove in two more runs with a single through the right side as Bradley went in front 5-3.  Later in the inning sophomore Megan Mahaffy plated a run with a RBI single down the left field line and fellow sophomore Gabby Stoner added a RBI single to left as the Braves took a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the second.
 
Southern Utah answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, however.  A pair of walks and single to open the inning led to a run.  Bradley turned a double play for the first two outs of the inning, but another run came home on the play and the Thunderbirds pulled within one run at 7-6 on a RBI single by Morgan Leonard.
 
A four-run third gave Southern Utah a 10-7 advantage.  Sarah Murphy drove in a run with a RBI single and two more runs came home on a Kendall Kapitzke double.  Leonard drove in her fourth run of the game with a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring.
 
Bradley came up empty after one-out singles in both the fourth and fifth innings.  The Braves had the leadoff person on in the sixth after McCarron was hit by a pitch to open the frame, but couldn’t come up with a run.  In the top of the seventh, Stoner had a leadoff single and Leonard, who was 4-for-4 with two RBI and a run, added a one-out single of her own.  A batter’s interference and popout ended the game as Southern Utah closed out a 10-7 victory.

Teutopolis graduate Allison Apke had three at-bats for Bradley with a single, a walk and scored a run.
 
Kapp moved into third in Bradley history with her 196th career hit, passing Natalie Quinn (1993-96) and is 15 hits from breaking the school career mark.  Senior Jaelen Hull tossed 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen as she tied the Bradley career record with her 45th career relief appearance.  Hull moved into a tie with Mackenzie Camp for eighth in career strikeouts at 254.
 
Bradley will open Missouri Valley Conference play next weekend with a three-game series at Southern Illinois.  The Braves and Salukis will play a noon doubleheader Saturday in Carbondale, Ill., followed by a single game Sunday at 11 a.m.

Saturday Game

Junior Maria Schroeder and sophomore Megan Mahaffy both slugged home runs, while Emily Visnic and Jaelen Hull combined for the first shutout of the season for Bradley as the Braves blanked Utah State 4-0 Saturday afternoon to open the final day of the Beehive Classic.
 
Visnic scattered five hits over 5.1 shutout innings to earn the victory for Bradley (14-10 overall) and improve to 3-1 on the season.  Hull got out of a jam in the sixth to toss 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen as the pair helped the Braves post their first shutout of the season.
 
Senior Kelly Kapp got things started with a leadoff walk and stolen base to open the Bradley half of the first.  Schroeder followed with a two-run homer to right center to give the Braves an early 2-0 advantage.
 
Visnic got out of a jam in the third.  Utah State (16-5 overall) loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, hit batter and infield single with the heart of the lineup coming up.  A line out was the first out of the inning and Visnic struck out Victoria Saucedo for the second out of the frame.  A groundout to third ended the threat.
 
In the bottom of the third, Kapp drew a one-out walk and stole both second and third.  Schroeder drove in her third run of the day with a RBI single to center as Bradley pushed the lead to 3-0.
 
Mahaffy led off the bottom of the fourth with her team-best fourth home run of the season as the Braves grabbed a 4-0 advantage.
 
Utah State threatened again in the sixth after a one-out single and error put runners at first and second.  Hull relieved Visnic and struck out the first two batters she faced to preserve the shutout bid, however.  Hull, who struck out five in the game, had to work out of another jam in the seventh after hitting back-to-back batters with one out.  She fanned the next two hitters to close out the 4-0 win for Bradley.  The Braves are now one victory away from the team’s most non-conference victories since 2013.
 
Schroeder, who is hitting .615 with four runs and eight RBI at the Beehive Classic, collected two of Bradley’s four hits in the game, going 2-for-2 with a run and three RBI.
 
Kapp was 1-for-1 with two runs and a career-high four stolen bases to push her season steal total to 28 as she extended her hit streak to a season-best 10 games.  Her 28 stolen bases are three more than her league-leading total of 25 from 2016 and rank fifth among Bradley season totals.  In addition, Kapp moved into third in Missouri Valley Conference history with her 85th career stolen base to pass Creighton’s Heidi Geier and she also matched Amy Pera for fourth in career hits at Bradley with her 194th.

Apke had one at-bat for Bradley.