Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - Jenna Bradley - Murray State University Athletics

Former Murray State softball student-athlete, Jenna Bradley, is part of the 2020 MSU Hall of Fame class, is this week's guest on the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast, episode 108.

The Runnin' with the Racers Podcast posts each week to GoRacers.com, iTunes and Soundcloud.

This GoRacers.com article is sponsored by Pepsi Mid-America.

Bradley is the first MSU softball player to be inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame and the good news came in a phone call from MSU Director of Athletics, Kevin Saal.

"That is a day that I am never going to forget," Bradley said. "My husband and I had just bought our forever home and when Kevin called (I couldn't answer) and when I listened to that message, let's just say it was an awesome day."

Bradley's two-year career still ranks among the best in MSU Softball history and no hitter has been able to match Bradley's power numbers of her senior season in the spring of 2011. She became the most feared hitter in the OVC. In 2011, Bradley led the OVC with 18 home runs, 121 total bases and was second in slugging (.807) and second in RBI (56). Most of those numbers are still MSU records.

Although she only played two seasons (103 games), Bradley is still first at MSU in runs, second in slugging (.671), third in home runs (30) and third in on base percentage (.431), Jenna Bradley

fifth in RBI (105) and eighth in batting average at .408. She was the first 30/30 player in Racer history with at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. Alexa Becker (2012-15) and Jessica Twaddle (2014-17) have joined Bradley in this exclusive group in MSU Softball.

The new Racer Softball program was launched with an announcement by Murray State Athletics on May 17, 2008. Jay Pyron was named the first head coach on September 18, 2008. Out of Lakeland Community College, the draw for Jenna Bradley to play at Murray State was the chance to get into a program that hadn't even played a game yet and to be with three of her teammates from LCC. Megan Glosser, Stephanie Mattocks and Chelsey Sullivan had already signed to be Racers on Dec. 11, 2008. Bradley was announced on GoRacers.com on April 14, 2009.

"Lots of people around my hometown didn't know much about Murray State at the time, so I felt like we made a name for Murray State Softball and it's awesome that my name is associated with that. So now when I hear of kids from here going to Murray State, I cannot stop gushing about what a great place Murray State is."

The spring of 2010 marked the first season for MSU and the Racers started 0-6. On March 3, 2010, the Racers scored the first win in program history over Evansville. Bradley hit the first home run in MSU history in a home game that day in the first inning.

"I was always a pull hitter, so it's surprising that I hit that first on to the opposite field over the right field fence," Bradley said. "I was pretty proud of that one!"

Bradley comes from an athletic family. Her grandfather, James Bradley, played football at University of Georgia in the mid-1950's. Her father, Wade, played baseball at Eastern Illinois University, while her sisters, Jami and Jacki played collegiate softball at the University of Illinois and University of Evansville.

Bradley is in her first year teaching fifth grade at Riddle Elementary School in Mattoon and the challenges of the pandemic are real, especially considering she hasn't been able to be in the classroom with her students yet.

"It is extremely difficult, this isn't what I expected in my first year teaching," Bradley said. "So it's sad that I haven't got to meet my kids yet, but I am able to get to know their personalities in our virtual meetings. It's hard, but we are going to get through this and we're going to be back in the classroom sooner rather than later."

Jenna Bradley, is now Jenna Hilligoss. Jenna and her husband, Mitch, are the proud parents of two girls, Tipper (3) and Dottie (2).

Bradley wore No. 7 in her Murray State softball career.

About Runnin' With The Racers Podcast
Murray State Basketball great Jonathan Stark was the first guest when the pilot episode posted Aug. 29, 2018, The podcast is produced weekly and usually is available by Wednesday. The Runnin' with the Racers Podcast is mainly guest driven with news and notes of the week from the Racers. Dave Winder, MSU Athletics Associate AD for Media Relations is the host. The podcast is available on GoRacers.com, ITunes and Soundcloud.

Murray State University Athletics

Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - Jenna Bradley

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