Recap | Softball Wins Sixth Straight Game with 6-3 Victory against Bradley on Friday

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University softball team (23-15, 14-1) continued its dominance at home in 2025 on Friday, defeating Bradley, 6-3.

With the win, SIU improved to 15-2 while playing in Carbondale, the most wins at home in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. The Salukis are also 8-0 in home conference games and are the only team in the MVC to be undefeated in home games.

"Honestly, I thought we had some locked-in moments and some lackadaisical moments," head coach Jen Sewell said. "I want to see more adrenaline from this team for the rest of this series."

Inside the Box Score

In the win, the Salukis scored six runs on seven hits with one error. Bradley posted three runs on five hits with no errors. All three runs for the Braves came in the seventh inning.
McKenzie Newcomb (14-5) allowed four hits, three earned runs, one walk, with three strikeouts across 4.0 innings pitched in securing her 14th victory as a Saluki. Emma Gipson was sharp yet again to start the game, allowing just one hit, no runs, no walks, with one strikeout in 3.0 innings pitched.
Anna Carder went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, which came in the fifth inning. Mikaela Coburn also had two hits, going 2-for-3 with one run scored.
Sage Grann went 1-for-2 with a double, three RBI, and one walk in the win.

How it Happened

Through the first three innings, Emma Gipson and Bradley's Sydney Kennedy were locked in a pitcher's duel at Charlotte West Stadium. Gipson threw a 1-2-3 first inning and allowed just one batter to reach base in the second, which came via a one-out single.

Southern Illinois was able to load the bases in the second with two outs, but could not produce a run, leading to the score being knotted at 0-0 entering the third inning.

Gipson finished off her outing with another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third. The freshman now possesses a 2.74 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 18 starts and 22 appearances.

McKenzie Newcomb entered the game in the fourth and was able to work around a lead-off walk to keep the score at 0-0.

The Salukis' bats got going in the bottom half of the inning, as Sage Grann doubled down the right field line to bring home Amanda Knutson and Mikaela Coburn to give SIU a 2-0 lead.

Southern's largest offensive output came in the fifth. After a Jackie Lis walk, Anna Carder hit a two-run home run to center to double SIU's advantage to 4-0. This was Carder's fifth home run of the season.

Later on in the inning, Knutson drew a walk with the bases loaded to make it 5-0 before Grann reached on a fielder's choice, leading to Southern Illinois' sixth run being scored.

Newcomb concluded another 1-2-3 inning for the Salukis with a strikeout in the sixth.

Bradley was able to get on the board in the seventh inning courtesy of a three-run home run off the bat of Olivia Turner. The Braves were able to get one more batter on base after the home run, but the rally was put to an end by Newcomb, leading to SIU earning the 6-3 win.

"The lefties did their job tonight, though," Sewell said. "I was impressed with those early runs starting from the bottom of the lineup. Tomorrow, I want us to do a better job of knowing when to be disciplined and knowing when to attack. And I want to see us finish tomorrow. We had opportunities to end that game early and didn't close it out."

Up Next
The Salukis will host Bradley again for game two on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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