Courtesy Bradley Sports Information:

Junior Jacqueline Vitale (indian Head Park, Ill./Lyons Township) and senior Miriam Wegmann (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) each hit solo home runs and junior Amanda Clack (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro) robbed Creighton’s Bailey Dawson of a potential game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to highlight a 2-0 Bradley win over the Bluejays in the championship game of the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship Saturday afternoon at the EastSide Centre. The tournament title is the first for the Braves and Bradley receives the MVC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

What was anticipated to be a potentially high scoring contest due to a strong wind blowing out to left center, senior pitcher Ashley Birdsong (Otis, Ore./Otis) and three-time Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year Tara Oltman both turned in solid pitching performances as the two squads combined for a total of five hits.

Vitale got the Braves (25-26 overall) on the board in the top of the second inning when she ripped a 3-1 pitch over the fence in right center field for her sixth home run of the season to give Bradley a 1-0 lead. Neither team would get a hit over the next two innings until Wegmann led off the top of the fourth inning with a homer to left field on a 3-2 pitch to push the Braves lead to 2-0.

Birdsong allowed just one base runner and did not surrender a hit in the first four and one-third innings of the game until MVC Player of the Year Renae Sinkler had a one-out single to left field. Dawson smashed a 2-1 pitch by Birdsong to center field, but Clack made a leaping catch at the fence to rob the Bluejays (35-16 overall) of a game-tying home run and preserve the shutout.

Oltman did not allow another hit after Wegmann’s lead off blast in the fourth inning, and allowed just one Bradley base runner in the final four innings on the contest.

Dawson ripped a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning for just the second Bluejay hit of the afternoon against Birdsong, but Creighton would leave her stranded at first base as Lauren Larson flew out and Michelle Graner popped out to end the game.

Birdsong tossed her 10th shutout of the season and picked up her ninth consecutive victory in the circle for the Braves, tossing a two-hit complete-game shutout. She struck out four and walked one to improve to 19-10 on the year. Birdsong has thrown the last 64 innings for Bradley and picked up all nine victories during the Braves’ current nine-game win streak. The nine-game win streak is Bradley’s longest win streak since winning 10 straight games in 1997. The MVC Tournament MVP, Birdsong was 4-0 with a 1.45 ERA during tournament play.

The Braves claimed the first MVC Tournament title in program history and will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance. Bradley is the first host school to win the MVC Tournament in the 27-year history of the event.

Joining Birdsong on the all-tournament team were fellow seniors Alycia Bachkora (Overland Park, Kan./Notre Dame de Sion), Anne Creighton (Glide, Ore./Glide) and Wegmann, along with Sinkler, Dawson and Michelle Koch from Creighton. Also earning spots on the all-tournament team were Casey Gorrell (Illinois State), Jenna Schwark (Missouri State), Elena Leon (Drake), Rachel Gerking (UNI), Darcy Wood (Indiana State), Katie Armour (Indiana State), Alicia Garza (Southern Illinois) and Katie Wagner (Southern Illinois).

The Braves will learn their first round opponent and regional site Sunday night. The NCAA selection show will air Sunday, May 9 at 9 p.m. (CDT) on ESPNU.