Birmingham, Ala. – Bradley used a three-run sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie and down Western Carolina softball 4-1 on Sunday morning in squad's finale at the Green & Gold Classic tournament at Mary Bowers Field.
Tessa Juett continued to swing a hot bat for the Catamounts with her third double of the weekend as she extended her hit streak to four games on Sunday. Maya McPherson connected on her second double of the season, while Savannah Baldwin and Lily Bell also tallied hits in the setback.
Western Carolina (2-6) attempted to get the offense going in the opening inning on Sunday with Bell, Baldwin, and Sydney Dirks each drawing walks, but Bradley kept the Catamounts off the scoreboard in the frame.
After a pair of quiet half-innings, the Braves got on the board first in the second inning, using a leadoff single followed by a walk. The Braves worked a pair of fielder's choices to push across a run and gain the edge.
WCU wasted no time answering in the third with Lily Bell posting an infield single to short followed by Savannah Baldwin reaching on a fielder's choice. Maya McPherson then doubled to left center, allowing Bell to score and even the game at one after 2.5 innings.
Taylor Norton answered in the third, working around a pair of baserunners without harm to keep the score even at one. After WCU was retired in order In the fourth, the Braves again threatened with a runner on base, but a pair of Norton strikeouts kept the score even at one.
Baldwin's one-out single followed by a stolen base put the Catamounts in a position to take their first lead, but a strikeout and groundout from Bradley allowed the Braves to escape harm.
Norton worked around a leadoff walk and two-out single in the fifth, with the score remaining square at one.
Juett picked her third double of the season to open the sixth, but Bradley sat the next three Catamounts down in order to thwart a chance for WCU to take the late lead.
In the home half of the sixth, Bradley connected on a pair of singles before the Braves converted a two-run single to center field to push the score to a 3-1 margin. Bradley added a late insurance RBI base knock to extend the lead, and a 1-2-3 top of the seventh allowed the Braves to secure the Sunday morning victory in Birmingham.
Norton (1-2) was saddled with the loss as she tossed her fifth career complete game, allowing four runs and matching her season-high with five strikeouts.
Sydney Kennedy (2-2) also went the distance for the Braves, scattering four hits and allowing one earned run with nine strikeouts to earn her second win of the season.
The Catamounts open a busy stretch of home games in the coming week. The 2024 home opener has been bumped up a day with the recently added matchup against Tennessee Tech set for Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m. WCU stays home the next afternoon for a 4 p.m. start on Wednesday, Feb. 28, against Gardner-Webb. Both games will have live stats on CatamountSports.com and the matchup with the Runnin' Bulldogs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
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