The Badger Braves will challenge the Grand Valley Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Badger's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They blew past Bloomfield 7-0. The victory continues a trend for the Braves in their matchups with the Cardinals: they've now won seven in a row.
Samantha Bradbury
| 05/08/25 vs Bloomfield | 14 |
| 05/07/25 @ Lordstown | 6 |
| 05/02/25 vs Maplewood | 6 |
| 05/01/25 vs Lordstown | 12 |
| 04/30/25 @ Grand Valley | 11 |
| + 2 more games |
Not much got past Samantha Bradbury, who gave up just three hits and racked up 14 Ks to keep Bloomfield off the board. Bradbury has been consistent: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Madison Lindus was excellent, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Kiyah Scharfenberg, who went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Grand Valley hadn't done well against Bristol recently (they were 0-3 in their previous three matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Mustangs put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 22-11 win.
Ady Kovacic made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. Kovacic was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-6 with four RBI and one run. That's the most RBI she has posted since back in April.
In other batting news, Jenna Poyer was a standout: she went 4-for-5 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Kaityln Baumann, who got on base in five of her six plate appearances with five runs, two stolen bases, and one triple.
Grand Valley was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .452. They are 6-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Badger's victory bumped their record up to 9-6. As for Grand Valley, their win bumped their record up to 7-8.
Grand Valley's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Badger has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.2 hits per game. It's a different story for Grand Valley, though, as they've been averaging 8.8 hits. Given Badger's sizable advantage in that area, the Mustangs will need to find a way to close that gap.
Badger beat Grand Valley 9-6 in their previous meeting last Wednesday. Do the Braves have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Mustangs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
