Bradley Tops Missouri, 8-1

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Sophomore Jillian Navarro had one of Bradley softball's three home runs on the day with a three-run blast in the fourth and freshman Grace French held Missouri to just five hits in her second complete game of the year as the Braves topped the Tigers 8-1 Wednesday afternoon at Mizzou Softball Stadium.

Missouri (13-12 overall), which entered the week 40th in the first NCAA RPI Report released Monday and was coming off a 2-1 series victory against then 8th-ranked Georgia, scored a run in the first before Bradley (14-11 overall) answered with eight unanswered runs to pull out the road win.

The Bradley victory snapped a five-game Missouri win streak in the series which dated back to a 5-4 victory in Columbia, Mo., on March 19, 2008.

Missouri took an early 1-0 lead on a one-out solo homer off the bat of Jazmyn Rollin in the bottom of the first, but Bradley answered with two runs in the top of the second and scored the next eight runs.

Sophomore Stacia Seeton had a one-out double to right to get things started for Bradley in the top of the second and junior Kealia Wysocki ripped a two-run homer as the Braves went in front 2-1.  The home run was Wysocki's team-best eighth of the year and moved her into a tie for the school career home run record with fellow junior Allison Apke (Teutopolis graduate) and Alyson Clemente at 21 career dingers.

French retired Missouri in order in the bottom half of the second and worked around a one-out single for a scoreless third inning.

A two-out Missouri error proved costly in the top of the fourth.  Sophomore Taise Thompson led off the frame with a walk, but an error which would have ended the inning allowed Wysocki to reach base and kept the inning alive.  Navarro homered for the third time in the last five games and sixth time this spring, ripping a three-run shot to push the Bradley lead to 5-1.

A leadoff double and fielder's choice to start the Missouri half of the fourth put a runner at third with only one out.  The Braves got an out at the plate on a fielder's choice, however, and a groundout later ended the Mizzou threat.

Bradley struck for two more runs in the top of the fifth to push the advantage to 7-1.  French was hit by a pitch and Apke followed with an infield single.  With runners at the corners, Seeton smacked a RBI single to left to plate French from third and senior Katie Habryle followed with a RBI single to center.

French sat Missouri down in order again in the fifth and she got another insurance run in the top half of the sixth.  A one-out, solo homer off the bat of freshman Lucy Mead made it an 8-1 Bradley advantage.

Missouri would threaten again in the bottom of the sixth.  French held Missouri to just three hits in the first five innings, before the Tigers would get their only multiple hit inning of the contest.  Rollin led off the Mizzou sixth with a single and Hatti Moore had a two-out single of her own to put a pair of runners on.  A Kara Decker walk loaded the bases for the Tigers, but French's fifth strikeout of the day ended the inning as Bradley took an 8-1 lead into the seventh.

French got three straight groundouts in the bottom of the seventh as she finished out the complete game victory to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Bradley hosts defending Missouri Valley Conference champion and preseason favorite Drake this weekend, with the Braves opening a three-game series against the Bulldogs with a noon doubleheader Saturday at Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.