Apke Leads Bradley to Big Victory

PEORIA, Ill. – On a chilly afternoon at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex, Bradley Softball swung some hot bats with the Braves using a nine-run first inning in a 12-0, five-inning victory over Western Illinois Wednesday.

Sophomore Allison Apke (Teutopolis graduate) hit a three-run homer and RBI double in the first inning to help highlight a nine-run frame for Bradley (12-14 overall), while junior Julie Kestas struck out six in a complete game one-hit shutout.

Bradley’s first three batters were a perfect 9-for-9 at the plate with seven runs and seven RBI.  The Braves wasted no time getting to Western Illinois (7-23 overall) starter Megan Lotarski with Gabby Stoner and Maria Shroeder opening the contest with back-to-back singles in the bottom of the first.

Apke belted a three-run homer to center, her team-best seventh dinger of the year, to give BU an early 3-0 lead.  Junior Katie Habryle had a two-out double and freshman Jillian Navarro slugged a two-run homer to left to put the Braves in front 5-0.  Senior Elizabeth Leonard followed a pitching change with a single and stolen base and came home on a Vicki Zaluske single up the middle.

Stoner doubled in her second at bat of the frame to drive in Zaluske from second and Schroeder roped a double to right field to drive in another run.  Apke followed the Schroeder double with one of her own to cap a 10-hit, nine-run inning for Bradley.  The nine-run inning was Bradley’s highest scoring inning since a nine-run first inning against Oregon State on Feb. 18, 2017.

Kestas sat Western Illinois down in order in the first and worked around a two-out single in the second to strike out the side.  The Leathernecks stranded a pair in the third after Kestas surrendered a pair of walks on full counts and she had another one-two-three inning in the fourth.

Bradley added three insurance runs in the bottom of the third.  Zaluske got things started with a one-out single up the middle and Stoner singled to right.  Schroeder drove in her second run of the game with a single to left as she moved into a tie for third in career RBI at Bradley, matching Julie Jehle’s career total at 113.  The Braves had a runner thrown out at the plate on an Apke single, but were able to add two more runs on a two-out Stacia Seeton single to push the advantage to 12-0.

Kestas had another perfect inning in the top of the fifth to close out the 12-0 victory.  She struck out six and walked two as she earned her second shutout of the year.

Bradley is slated to host Loyola in a three-game weekend series at the Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.