Apke Named COUNTRY Financial Scholar-Athlete Of The Week

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Published on March 15 2018 9:05 am
Last Updated on March 15 2018 9:05 am
Written by Millie Lange

PEORIA -- Sophomore infielder Allison Apke (Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) has been named the Bradley COUNTRY Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week after helping Bradley Softball to a 3-3 record last week.
 
Apke scored or drove in nearly one-third of Bradley's runs last week, boasting a .389 batting average, .560 on base percentage, 1.000 slugging percentage, five doubles, two homers, seven runs and 10 RBI.  She tied the Bradley single-game record with seven RBI to highlight Bradley's highest scoring game since 2004, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, a grand slam, one walk and three runs in a win against Eastern Michigan.

 Apke followed it up with a double and solo homer against Louisville, which was receiving votes in the latest national polls, in a 2-for-5 effort.  The next day, Apke was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBI in a victory against UMass.  In the final two games of the week, Apke was walked five of her eight plate appearances, scoring three runs despite having only three at bats in the two contests.  Three of her seven walks on the week were intentional.  A mechanical engineering with a biomedical concentration major, Apke owns a 3.34 cumulative grade point average.
 
Each week, a Bradley student-athlete is selected as the COUNTRY Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week.  The individual chosen must be at least a sophomore in class standing and boast a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average, while displaying a level of athletic excellence.
 
Lipscomb 7, Bradley 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the second straight day a Bradley starter took a shutout into the sixth inning, but Lipscomb hurler Mandy Jordan tossed a no hitter and three BU errors in the sixth led to a seven-run inning for the Lady Bisons as the Braves wrapped up their spring break trip with a 7-0 loss Wednesday afternoon.

Junior Megan Mahaffy had one of her strongest outings of the year, holding Lipscomb (15-6 overall) to just three hits through five complete inning and took a shutout into the sixth.  Mahaffy (4-7) struck out two and walked two in the complete game effort in which she did not surrender an earned run.

Caitlin Turner led off the bottom of the first with a single, but Mahaffy and the Braves (10-13 overall) turned an inning double play to get out of the inning unscathed.  Mahaffy would go on to sit the Lady Bisons down in order in both the second and third innings as she faced the minimum before another Turner single to open the fourth. Lipscomb would leave a pair on in the fourth, however.

Bradley had its only real scoring chance of the day in the top of the third.  Sophomore Brooklyn Bane was the only Brave to reach base in the contest when she was hit by a pitch with one out in the third.  Bane stole second, but Jordan got a strikeout and pop out to end the threat.

Mahaffy worked around a two-out error in the fifth as Bradley and Lipscomb were both scoreless heading to the sixth.  A Bradley error to open the inning proved costly as the Lady Bisons later loaded the bases with an infield single and a walk.  The second error of the inning allowed Lipscomb to push a pair of runs across.  Abby Fenichel plated another run with a RBI single and the Lipscomb lead was 5-0 after two more runs came home on the third Bradley error of the frame.  Turner, who collected three of Lipscomb’s six hits, capped the scoring with a two-run single up the middle as the Lady Bisons built a 7-0 lead.

After a groundout to open the top of the seventh, Jordan snapped Maria Schroeder’s career-best hit streak at 14 games when the senior lined out to second for the second out of the inning.  Jordan closed out the no hitter with her 12th strikeout to end the game as she improved to 10-0 on the season and lowered her season ERA to 0.76 with the complete game shutout.

Schroeder’s 14-game hit streak is tied for the third longest in school history.

Bradley will open Missouri Valley Conference play at home for the first time since 2012, hosting Northern Iowa in a three-game weekend series at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.  The Braves and Panthers are scheduled to open the series Saturday with a noon doubleheader.