With several recent lukewarm series under their belts and the Conference-USA tournament just a week away, the Saint Louis University softball team picked the right time to start getting hot.

The Bills (23-31 overall, 3-14 C-USA) recovered from their 2-1 series with Houston last week by taking the second game in a double-header with the Bradley Braves (14-22) on Tuesday.

In the first game, SLU pressured Bradley in the fourth and sixth innings, but the Braves kept the Bills quiet.

In the fourth inning, Beth Yagge advanced to third after an Adrie Bogaars single to centerfield, but she couldn’t make it home.

In the sixth inning, Bradley’s Sandra Britt struck out SLU’s Janet Venorsky, but the Bills managed to load the bases after two walks and a single from Bogaars.

Venorsky managed another at-bat in the inning, but was again set down by Britt. The inning was ended with a fly out from Heather Hubert.

The Braves scored three runs and kept the Bills scoreless for the entire game.

In the second game, the Bills fought back. The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning when Bogaars hit a one-out double, and was followed by a home run by Venorsky.

Bradley managed one unearned run in the fourth inning, but was kept at bay for the remainder of the game.

In the seventh inning, the Bills clinched the game with three runs, including runs scored from singles by Kalee Reichert and Erin Jeffery, bringing the game to the final score of 5-1.

“The second game was good. We hit when we were supposed to, when we had runners on base, and we got the runners in.

“We didn’t do that in the first game. We didn’t produce,” Bogaars said.

The Bills hosted the Houston Cougars (20-30, 8-9) last weekend in their final home series of the season. The Bills grabbed the first game with a score of 8-2, but Houston rallied to win the other two games 4-3 and 2-1.

In the first game, the Cougars jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but the Bills answered back with an RBI single from Yagge, which plated Jeffery. Bogaars scored in the bottom of the second, bringing the game to 2-1.

Houston came back to tie the game at two runs apiece in the top of the fifth, but the Billikens scored six runs in the bottom of the inning, and managed to keep the Cougars quiet for the rest of the game.

Hubert picked up her ninth win of the season.

In the second game, Houston came back from a 3-2 deficit to win the match 4-3. Yagge and Venorsky both added RBI singles to help the Billiken effort, but the Bills could not surpass Houston.

In the third game on Sunday, an unearned Houston run in the top of the eighth decided the game. The Cougars picked up the win with a final score of 2-1.

Houston was first to score in the fourth inning, but the Bills put up a run in the sixth inning after Beth Puttcamp stole second and was plated later in the inning.

The Bills saw a chance to win the game in the seventh, but runner Jessica Saucedo couldn’t be driven in.

“We should have won the third game,” Bogaars said.

“But we left runners on the bases, and we didn’t do what we should have done.”

Saturday, the Bills will begin their final C-USA series before the conference tournament as they head to Charlotte for a double header, followed by a single game on Sunday.

The match up between the Bills and the 49ers will be critical, as the two teams are both vying for the seventh place seed going into the conference tournament.

The 49ers have lost eight games straight and are currently 15-29 overall, and 1-17 in C-USA.

“I’m optimistic about it all. (Heather) Hubert is pitching well, and we’re hitting very well,” Bogaars said.

After the series with Charlotte, the team will prepare for the double elimination conference tournament, which begins May 10 in Louisville.

The winner of the conference crown earns an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.

The Bills are closing the best season the team has had in over two decades, and are optimistic heading into the C-USA tournament.

“I’m very proud of this organization, and what we have done,” said Coach Malloy.

“We thought this would be the year we turned a corner, and we did.”