AUBURN, Ala. – The ULM Softball team (12-3) rebounded from Friday's loss to No. 21 Auburn with a 3-2 win over Bradley in its only Saturday game in the Plainsman Invitational. Sophomore Madison Blount had two RBI, driving in one run in the second inning and the game-winner in the fourth, and Kinsey Kackley registered her second win of the season.
"Today was a full team effort," said ULM head coach Molly Fichtner. "We have struggled a little bit with the energy in the dugout and I challenged Kendall (Morton) to hype the dugout today. We started very rocky defensively again today, but the energy never wavered. For the majority of the game, we had the momentum, and ultimately that's what drove us to win the ballgame. There were a lot of key moments for us in today's game, but the energy is what excited me the most."
Bradley took advantage of two Warhawk errors in the bottom of the first to score the game's first run. Lead-off hitter Camryn Monteer singled and moved into scoring position on a throwing error. Brave Jordy van der Werf reached first base on a fielding error and then both Monteer and van de Werf advanced to third and second, respectively. A single by Samantha Smith brought both Braves across the plate for a 2-0 Bradley lead.
ULM responded to the Bradley scores with a run in the top of the second. Freshman Alexis Chavez got on base with a bunt up the left side and moved to second on a sacrifice by sophomore Kelsey Giddens. Blount's double brought Chavez home for ULM's earliest run of the tournament and a 2-1 score.
The Warhawks' fourth-inning lead-off batter Jacelyn Buck singled and moved to second on Chavez's ground out. Buck scored on Kelsey Giddens' double to left field to tie the game at 2-2 and then Giddens scored the third run, the eventual game-winner, on Blount's single up the middle. ULM head the 3-2 lead the rest of the way
In the circle, Kackley had control of the game and kept Bradley off the scoreboard by squelching any threats through six innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Bradley loaded the bases with a single, double and a walk. Kackley struck out the pinch hitter for the second out and Gianni Hulett came in to face Bradley's Monteer to retire the side and keep the Braves from recording any runs. Kackley came back to close the seventh with three-straight outs.
Bradley's Camryn Schaller was the game's losing pitcher, allowing three runs on six hits in her 3.1 innings pitched.
The Warhawks play the Plainsman Invitational host team, No. 21 Auburn, at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday at Jane B. Moore Field. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+ with live stats for the final matchup of the weekend are available on the softball schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
