SIU clinches series with doubleheader sweep at Bradley

Saturday, April 23

Peoria, Ill.

2:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

27-16, 10-8

Bradley

14-24, 8-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	5	6	1
Bradley	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	3	9	1

04/23/2016 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

April 23, 2016

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

G1 Box | G2 Box

PEORIA, Ill. - The Southern Illinois softball team clinched a series win at Bradley with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon at Laura Bradley Park. SIU won the opener 6-1 and the second game 5-3.

"I'm really proud of the way we came out," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We were aggressive on offense, and I thought we threw very well and defended really well. That's the biggest part of our game--pitching and defense."

In the opener, Kelsey Gonzalez led off the game with a hit and scored the game's first run in the third inning. She hit in both games--extending her hitting streak to four games--and scored a run in each game, and she reached in four of her eight plate appearances.

"Kelsey Gonzalez starts us," Blaylock said. "She gets us going on such a good tone all the time."

SIU (27-16, 10-8 MVC), which had struggled offensively in the last six games, put up four multi-run innings in the 14-inning day. Shaye Harre hit home runs in each game, jumping into the top-10 in SIU history in both single-season and career home runs. Jessica Heese and Merri Anne Patterson combined to go 6-for-12 with two doubles, a triple and six RBIs; and Gonzalez and Eyrika Brandenburg also had multi-hit days.

"We relaxed more at the plate," Blaylock said. "We stuck to a plan, and we were productive because of that."

Brianna Jones earned the complete-game win in game one. She set the SIU single-season freshman wins record with her 19th win of the season, and she limited the MVC's top offensive team by batting average to just 5-for-25 from the plate in the opener.

"She threw up great numbers against a great offensive team. That's what I'm most proud about," Blaylock said.

In the second game, SIU threw a true staff win. Savanna Dover (7-7) matched Jones with her fifth MVC win of the season. When Bradley threatened SIU's 5-1 lead in the fifth by loading the bases, Nicole Doyle came in and got a huge out to avoid further damage. Then, Jones came back for the final two innings to earn SIU its third MVC doubleheader sweep of the season.

"Dover threw a very good game," Blaylock said. "Nicole came in and got us a big out. We wanted (Doyle) to get us to Bri, and she did that. It was a really good combination win."

Heese continued her All-MVC-type season with a bases-clearing triple with two outs in SIU's four-run third inning of the second game. Armed with a five-run lead, SIU's pitching continued its dominance. After today's games, Dover has a 1.75 ERA in league play; Jones has a 2.16 ERA; and the staff has a 1.97 ERA in 124.1 MVC innings. Bradley (14-24, 8-9 MVC), who was hitting .350 in league play entering the day, hit just .250 today off of SIU's pitching.

The wins pushed SIU ahead of Bradley into fourth place in the MVC standings with eight games left play. Southern goes for the sweep tomorrow with a single game at noon.

NOTES: SIU clinched its fourth MVC series win of the year...Heese, Patterson, Harre, Brandenburg and Gonzalez went a combined 13-for-30 (.433) and reached in 19-of-36 plate appearances (.528 ob%)...Brianna Jones broke Amy Harre's school wins record for a freshman with her 19th win of the year (Harre had 18 wins in 2002)...SIU had six extra-base hits and limited Bradley to two...Merri Anne Patterson stole two bases and has been successful on 21 consecutive stolen base attempts dating back to the start of last year (the school record is 31)...SIU has won 11 of its last 12 games against Bradley and four-straight series between the schools...SIU secured double-figure MVC wins for the 16th-consecutive year...Shaye Harre has drawn 18 walks in MVC play alone, already the highest for any MVC player since former Saluki Allie VadeBoncouer drew 21 walks in MVC play in 2014...Harre hit her 10th and 11th home runs of the season, the third time this season she has hit two home runs in one day...Harre's 11 home runs this year are tied for 7th in SIU single-season history, and Her 21 career home runs are tied for 8th in SIU career history...Harre's 32 walks drawn this year are tied for 8th in SIU single-season history...Brianna Jones is one with away from becoming the seventh player in program history to pitch 20 wins in a season.