Southern Illinois University
31-12, 15-6
Bradley University
21-10, 11-8
Massa’s walk-off homer highlights SIU’s split with Bradley
05/04/2019 | 11:57:00 | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Katelyn Massa hit a three-run, walk-off home run to give the Southern Illinois University softball team a split in its doubleheader with the Bradley Braves on Saturday, May 4. Southern won game two, 7-4 after Bradley took the opener, 14-5.
With the victory, SIU clinches the No. 2 seed in next weekend's MVC Tournament.
"It validates where we were picked in the Preseason Poll and shows that we have been consistent all season," 20th-year head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We aren't done yet. We want to win tomorrow very badly and we are going to go out and try to do that. We are just going one game at a time right now."
In the night cap, the Braves led 4-3 heading into the seventh inning. Maris Boelens was hit by a pitch to open the frame and Maddy Vermejan followed with a perfectly placed bunt single. After Susie Baranski's sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, Jenny Jansen came through with a RBI-single to plate Boelens and knot the game at 4-all.
"Maddy's bunt single was huge and Maris getting on to start the inning was also big," Blaylock said. "I kept saying, 'get to Jenny, get to Jenny' because I felt like Jenny was going to come through. And she almost hit it too hard off the bat because we weren't able to score two on her single."
After the Braves recorded the second out of the seventh, Massa crushed the first pitch she saw over the fence in left for her sixth home run of the season to seal the 7-4 win.
SIU's 1-2-3 hitters Vermejan, Baranski and Jansen, all had two hits in game two, while Massa, hitting in the five hole, also notched a multi-hit game as she went 2-for-4 with four RBI.
"If you give our hitters time, they are going to figure things out and I thought they did that tonight," Blaylock said. "The top of the order did a great job."
Brianna Jones got the win in relief in game two. Jones improved to 22-8 after she went four innings, allowed just two hits and walked two while striking out four. Claire Miller started game two and retired the first seven batters she faced but ran into trouble in the fourth and handed the ball over to Jones.
In the opener, the Braves scored eight runs in the third and fourth innings to chase Jones. They tacked on two in the sixth and plated four more in the seventh for good measure.
"The first game was a cluster," Blaylock said. "For our girls to come out and hang with it and realize that I'm just fighting for them, I thought they responded tremendously."
Three Salukis tallied multi-hit games in the opener- Vermejan, Baranski and Ashley Wood. Wood was 3-for-4 with a home run, her ninth of the season, and four RBI. Jordan Spicer also socked her seventh home run of the season. Her solo shot in game one was her third home run in her last four games.
The Salukis close out the 2019 regular season tomorrow with the series finale against Bradley at Noon. Southern will honor its seniors, Brianna Jones and Jordan Spicer, following tomorrow's game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mahaffy, Megan (9-4)
L: Jones, Brianna (21-8)
Batting:
2B: Stoner, Gabby 1
3B: French, Grace 1
HR: Stoner, Gabby 1 ; Wysocki, Kealia 1
RBI: van Breusegen,Keeler 1 ; Stoner, Gabby 3 ; Apke, Allison 1 ; Thompson, Taise 1 ; Seeton, Stacia 3 ; Wysocki, Kealia 3 ; French, Grace 2
SF: van Breusegen,Keeler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mead, Lucy 1 ; Stoner, Gabby 4 ; Apke, Allison 1 ; Young, Sydney 1 ; Thompson, Taise 1 ; Seeton, Stacia 1 ; Wysocki, Kealia 1 ; Navarro, Jillian 1 ; Habryle, Katie 1 ; French, Grace 2
Batting:
HR: Wood, Ashley 1 ; Spicer, Jordan 1
RBI: Wood, Ashley 4 ; Spicer, Jordan 1
SH: Baranski, Susie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Baranski, Susie 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Wood, Ashley 1 ; Spicer, Jordan 1
