{"id":1900,"date":"2018-04-19T23:25:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T04:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=1900"},"modified":"2018-04-19T23:31:53","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T04:31:53","slug":"bradley-offense-propels-softball-past-isu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2018\/04\/19\/bradley-offense-propels-softball-past-isu\/","title":{"rendered":"Bradley Offense Propels Softball Past ISU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bradley vs. ISU COM 360 MM2\" width=\"352\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PTBVuS2xWKk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>By Kerra Fisher &amp; Nick Kelly<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In game two of the I-74 rivalry between <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/index.aspx?path=softball\">Bradley<\/a> and Illinois State on Thursday, early offense from the Braves led to easy victory. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Redbirds threatened with a leadoff double, but a strike out and two ground outs neutralized the damage. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?rp_id=9506\">Stacia Seeton<\/a> put the Braves on the board early with a three-run home run in the bottom half of the frame. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cHome runs are a big deal for us,\u201d Seeton said. \u201cWe celebrate each other\u2019s achievements and we just go hard after that. We\u2019re pumped after big hits&#8230;I think it really pumped us up for the rest of the game.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?rp_id=9503\">Kealia Wysocki<\/a> lead off the Bradley second with a home run of her own to put the Braves up 4-0. <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?rp_id=9497\">Elizabeth Leonard<\/a> followed with a run scoring double after a <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?rp_id=9505\">Taise Thompson<\/a> single. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cOur mindset after the first game was to come back punch for punch,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cWe wanted to start more aggressive than we did the first game.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, the Braves\u2019 offensive barrage ended quietly in the third with three ground outs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Illinois State\u2019s next threat wouldn\u2019t come until the fourth with a walk and a single to start the inning. Riley Strandgard capitalized with a line drive single to score a run. A double play for the Braves ended the inning, but not without another run crossing the plate, making it 5-2. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Leonard found herself on base again in the Braves\u2019 fourth, stealing two bases to put herself in scoring position. The Bradley offense failed to convert after <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?rp_id=9490\">Allison Apke<\/a> flew out to right to end the inning. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bradley added some insurance in the sixth with a Leonard walk. She moved to third on two passed balls before <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?rp_id=9500\">Maria Schroeder<\/a> drove her in with a sacrifice fly to right, making the score 6-2. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI just saw [the ball] better,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cThe zone I had was the same zone the umpire created, so it was easier to go with what my gut was saying.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Illinois State made noise in the seventh with a pair of singles before the Braves made their first pitching change tasking Thompson with the last two outs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Riley Hale took advantage of the new arm, driving in a run with a single down the first base line. The rally was short lived though, as a ground out to second ended the contest with Bradley coming out on top 6-3.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Leonard got herself on base in three of four plate appearances, scoring two runs for the Braves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWhen we play at our highest we know we\u2019re going to win,\u201d junior <a href=\"https:\/\/bradleybraves.com\/roster.aspx?rp_id=9496\">Julie Kestas<\/a> said. \u201cOur goal from here on out is to take every series like we know how.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Braves are back in action Saturday, opening a three game series with Southern Illinois. The teams will open with a double header at the Petersen Hotels Field at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex. First pitch is set for noon. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Kerra Fisher &amp; Nick Kelly In game two of the I-74 rivalry between Bradley and Illinois State on Thursday, early offense from the Braves led to easy victory. The Redbirds threatened with a leadoff double, but a strike out and two ground outs neutralized the damage. Stacia Seeton put the Braves on the board early with a three-run home run in the bottom half of the frame. \u201cHome runs are a big deal for us,\u201d Seeton said. \u201cWe celebrate each other\u2019s achievements and we just go hard after that. We\u2019re pumped after big hits&#8230;I think it really pumped us up for the rest of the game.\u201d \u00a0 Kealia Wysocki lead off the Bradley second with a home run of her own to put the Braves up 4-0. Elizabeth Leonard followed with a run scoring double after a Taise Thompson single. \u201cOur mindset after the first game was to come back punch for punch,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cWe wanted to start more aggressive than we did the first game.\u201d \u00a0 However, the Braves\u2019 offensive barrage ended quietly in the third with three ground outs. Illinois State\u2019s next threat wouldn\u2019t come until the fourth with a walk and a single to start [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[249,260],"class_list":["post-1900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-bucom360","tag-bradley-softball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1900"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1903,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900\/revisions\/1903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}