CARBONDALE, Ill. � The Southern Illinois University softball team completed its first three-game sweep of the Bradley Braves since 2016 with a 10-2 run-rule win Sunday inside Charlotte West Stadium.
The Salukis led from start to finish and plated at least one run in four of five innings Sunday. It was Southern's first three-game sweep of a MVC opponent this season.Â
"We challenged them to come out better and play seven hard innings of our brand of softball," head coach  said. "That started in the circle- I thought  did a tremendous job starting us off. And then right off the bat, Maddy and Maris got our offensive going right away. Katelyn had a big day at the plate as well. Bradley is a great offensive club and I thought we did a good job of holding them down. I'm just really proud of our kids."Â
Clark improved to 5-0 this season in the circle after she tossed four and a third innings and allowed one earned run on five hits. Harness retired two of the three batters she faced in relief.Â
Southern's reformatted lineup continued to pay dividends on Sunday. SIU's 1-through-5 hitters all had at least one hit and were a combined 8-for-10 at the dish with 9 RBIs. ,ÌýÌý²¹²Ô»åÌý each had two hits, while a total of eight Salukis reached base in the win.
After Clark set the Braves down in order in the top of the first, Southern used a sacrifice fly from  and a two-out RBI-double from Massa to jump out to a 2-0 lead.Â
In the bottom of the third, Vermejan led off with a walk and Boelens moved her to third with a single. Jansen then drove in Vermejan with a single and Massa cleared the bases with her fourth home run of the season - a three-run, opposite field blast that put SIU ahead, 6-0 after three innings.Â
"I knew she was going to throw me outside," Massa said of her home run. "She had thrown inside to me a couple of times but had mostly stayed on the outside part of the plate. I just thought to myself 'sit back on that outside pitch and take it to the opposite field', and that's what I did."
Massa continued to torture Bradley pitching Sunday like she has done throughout her career. The Wildwood, Mo. native, who is a career .485 hitter in 12 games against the Braves, hit .667 (4-for-6) on the weekend with three of her four hits going for extra bases, which included two home runs.Â
"Jen has been trying to get our hitters to sit back on change ups or balls that are away and drive through the ball," Blaylock said. "Kate's home run today was an absolute blast. She came ready to play both days this weekend and that was really good for us."
Bradley used a sacrifice fly to break up the shutout in the top of the fourth but Southern got that run back on a RBI-groundout by Boelens.
After the Braves pushed another run across in the top of the fifth, the Salukis hung a crooked number to bring the game to an early end. Southern used four walks, a Bradley error and a single to push across three runs. Vermejan drew a bases loaded walk,Ìý raced home to score on a passed ball and  came through with a two-out, walk-off single to seal the win.Â
The Salukis are back in action on Wednesday, March 31 when they travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo. to take on the SEMO Redhawks. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
