The Billikens faced the Bradley Braves (6-6) on Tuesday in a doubleheader. Bradley took the first game 4-0, but the Bills came back to win the second game, 4-1.
“We came out slowly in the first game,” said pitcher Nicole Bohnenstiehl.
“We didn’t play our best, but we turned it around in the second game. We came out swinging and played aggressively.”
The second game began with Nicole Bohnenstiehl leading off with a walk in the bottom of the second. Bohnenstiehl advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt by Meredith Henry, and took third after a wild pitch.
The Billikens took a 1-0 lead when Adrie Bogaars notched her 12th run batted in of the season, bringing Bohnenstiehl home.
Bradley tied the game 1-1 in the top of the third, but freshman pitcher Heather Hubert kept the next 11 batters under control, allowing the Saint Louis University offense to take the lead again.
Beth Puttcamp and Erin Jeffrey lined up on first and second, and were advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Jamie Hayden. The bases were loaded when Beth Yagge walked.
Janet Venorsky took advantage of the loaded bases, and singled to center field, driving in Puttcamp and Jeffrey.
Puttcamp added an insurance run in the sixth to bring the Bills a victory.
Over the weekend, the Billikens had their hands full with a doubleheader against Wichita State, and then a three-game series with C-USA rival South Florida.
The Bills took the first game against Wichita State 1-0, but the Shockers came back in the second game to win, 3-2.
In their first conference series, the Billikens took one of three games against South Florida.
In the first game, South Florida scored first with a solo home run in the top of the third and scored again in the same inning.
The Billikens posted their first run in the sixth after hits from Jeffrey and Bohnensteihl.
“We kept swinging. Nobody gave up. We played good defense, pretty much flawless ball until the end,” Bohnenstiehl said.
South Florida scored again, bringing the game to 3-1, but the Billikens rallied in the bottom of the seventh and sent the game into extra innings.
Venorsky led off with a single, which was followed by a double by Henry. After a South Florida error, Venorsky scored, and Henry tied the game after a single from Jeffrey.
Bohnenstiehl did not allow a single hit in the next three innings.
Finally, in the 11th inning, the team’s leader in home runs, Henry, rocketed a ball over the left field fence, giving SLU a 4-2 win.
“We played really well all game; we had a lot to prove,” Bohnensteihl said.
In the second game, South Florida dominated and took advantage of five Saint Louis errors and won the game 8-0. The Bulls outhit SLU 13-2 in the second game.
In the third and final game of the series, South Florida’s Jessi Kowal threw a no-hitter, and the Bulls beat the Billikens 9-0.
The game was only Bohnenstiehl’s fourth loss of the season.
Today, the Billikens (15-12, 1-2 in C-USA) will face Southern Illinois in a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. Saturday.
The C-USA action continues, when the preseason favorite, DePaul, comes to town for a doubleheader beginning at 1 pm, and another game on Sunday at 1 pm.
