Bradley Drops Three Losses In Weekend Softball

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Published on April 17 2017 1:38 pm
Last Updated on April 17 2017 1:39 pm
Written by Millie Lange

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Senior Kelly Kapp tallied three of Bradley’s seven hits on the day to move into 16th in Missouri Valley Conference history in career hits, but Northern Iowa held the Braves scoreless as the Panthers swept a doubleheader by scores of 1-0 and 5-0 Friday afternoon at the UNI-Dome.
 
Rain in the Cedar Falls, Iowa, area forced Friday’s doubleheader to move from Robinson-Dresser Field to the UNI-Dome.
 
Kapp was 3-for-6 on the day to push her career hit total to 219 as she moved ahead of Aimee DeKeyser of Drake (1995-97) for 16th in career hits in MVC history.  In addition, she now has 64 hits in 2017 which ranks as the eighth best season total in school history.
 
After tossing a complete game one-hit shutout of Wichita State Sunday, Kestas started the day’s first game and took a shutout bid into the seventh.  Northern Iowa (22-15 overall, 10-4 MVC) managed just one hit off Kestas through the first five innings.  Kestas had to work out of some early jams, however, as UNI left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first and stranded a pair in the third.
 
UNI starter Jaci Spencer was equally impressive, tossing a four-hit shutout.  Kapp led off the game with a single and Bradley’s best scoring chance came in the third.  Sophomore Megan Mahaffy led off the third with a single and the Braves loaded the bases on an error and Kapp’s second hit of the day.  The Panthers turned a double play to get out of the inning.
 
The game was scoreless heading to the bottom of the seventh as Kestas extended her streak of scoreless inning streak to 13 after a scoreless sixth.  Senior Jaelen Hull took over to start the seventh for Bradley (19-22 overall, 5-9 MVC) and ended up the hard-luck loser in the 1-0 setback.  Kennedy Bailey led off the UNI seventh with a single and stole second before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt.  Brittney Krodinger drove in Bailey from third with a double to left.
 
Kestas struck out one and walked four, while surrendering three hits in six scoreless innings.
 
In the nightcap, Northern Iowa hurler Alyssa Buchanan fanned seven Bradley hitters in a three-hit shutout as she improved to 9-1 on the year.  A five-run fourth put the Panthers in control.  Macey Wolfe led off the frame with a single and Bailey followed with a double.  Bailey Lange ripped a one-out, three-run homer to open the scoring. With runners at the corners and one out, the Panthers got another run on a Buchanan groundout and Krodinger drove in her second run of the afternoon with a single as UNI grabbed a 5-0 lead.
 
Bradley had a pair of hit batters in the top of the fifth, but couldn’t push a run across and stranded single runners in both the sixth and seventh as the Panthers took the day’s second game 5-0.
 
Bradley jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held an 8-5 advantage after three runs in the top of the seventh, but a pair of two-run homers in the bottom of the seventh helped Northern Iowa rally for a 9-8 walk-off victory over the Braves Saturday afternoon at Robinson-Dresser Field.
 
After getting shutout in both games of Friday’s doubleheader, Bradley wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the series finale.  Senior Kelly Kapp had the first of 15 hits on the day for the Braves (19-23 overall, 5-10 MVC) with an infield single to leadoff the game.  Fellow senior Caitlyn McCarron added a one-out single and Kapp scored the first run of the afternoon on a RBI single by Elizabeth Leonard as Bradley grabbed the early 1-0 lead.
 
A four-run second gave the Braves a 5-0 lead.  With a runner at first and two outs, Kapp collected her second hit of the contest and sophomore Gabby Stoner came all the way around to score from first thanks in part to two UNI errors on the play.  Kapp scored again on a Maria Schroeder single and freshman Allison Apke (Teutopolis graduate) drove in Schroeder with a two-out single to right.  McCarron scored from third when Leonard reached on an error to push the Bradley lead to 5-0.
 
Northern Iowa (23-15 overall, 11-4 MVC) snapped a streak of 14 consecutive scoreless innings for Bradley starter Julie Kestas with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second off the bat of Bailey Lange to cut Bradley’s advantage to 5-2.
 
Bradley, which left the bases loaded in the top of the second, stranded another pair in the third after loading the bases and left seven runners on in the first three frames.
 
Brittney Roby led off the UNI third with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch.  Roby later scored from third on a RBI single by Macey Wolfe as the Panthers trimmed the Bradley lead to 5-3.
 
Brittney Krodinger tied the game at 5-5 with a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth and the teams went into the seventh knotted at 5-5.
 
Leonard opened the top of the seventh with a single to center and freshman Kealia Wysocki followed with a single of her own for her third hit of the game.  With one out and the bases loaded, sophomore Stephanie Campos reached on the fourth UNI error of the game.  All three base runners scored on the error as Bradley went back in front 8-5.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Tianna Drahn had an infield single to chase Bradley reliever Emma Jackson from the contest as Kestas re-entered the contest.  Krodinger slugged her second homer of the game with a two-run shot to make it a one-run game at 8-7.  Roby had a single after senior Jaelen Hull took over in the circle for the Braves and Wolfe gave Northern Iowa the walk-off victory with a two-run homer as the Panthers rallied for the 9-8 victory.
 
Kapp and Wysocki each went 3-for-4 to highlight a 15-hit day for the Braves.  Kapp’s MVC-leading 67 hits this spring rank as the sixth-best season total in school history, one better than her season total from 2016.  In addition, she now has 222 career hits as she moved into 14th in MVC history.  Kapp needs three more hits to move into 12th in Valley history.

Apke had a single and drove in a run in the 9-8 loss to UNI. She had a single in the 5-0 loss to UNI. She finished with a single in the final 1-0 loss.
 
Bradley closes out a five-game road swing Wednesday with a 5 p.m. doubleheader at I-74 rival Illinois State.