CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Senior Alycia Bachkora (Overland Park, Kan./Notre Dame de Sion) hit a pair of home runs Saturday, but Southern Illinois hit a walk-off grand slam to upend the Braves 5-3 in the opening game of the series and posted a 6-2 victory in the second game to complete a doubleheader sweep of the Braves at Charlotte West Stadium.
Bradley (16-25 overall, 7-11 MVC) struck first in the opener thanks to a three-run bomb off the bat of Bachkora in the top of the third inning. Junior Lindsay Watkins (Hopedale, Ill./Olympia/Parkland) had a one-out single and junior Janay Mitchell (Woodrige, Ill./Downers Grove South) followed with a bunt single. Bachkora cleared the bases with her seventh homer of the year to give the Braves a 3-0 lead.
Southern Illinois (30-11 overall, 12-6 MVC) pushed a run across in the bottom of the fourth inning. Katie Wilson led off the frame with an infield single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Allie Hanson drove in Wilson from second with a RBI double to left field to cut Bradley's lead to 3-1.
Senior Ashley Birdsong (Otis, Ore./Taft) was in line for the victory as the Braves took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning before SIU would rally for four runs. Jayme Wamsley drew a one-out walk and the Salukis loaded the bases after back-to-back singles by Chelsea Held and Haley Gorman. Alicia Garza ended the game in dramatic fashion with a walk-off grand slam to give Southern Illinois a 5-3 victory.
Birdsong fell to 10-10 on the year with the loss. She struck out six and walked two, while surrendering five runs and eight hits in six and one-third innings.
In the nightcap, Bachkora once again broke up a scoreless game with a home run, belting a solo homer to lead off the top of the fourth inning to give Bradley a 1-0 lead. The homer was Bachkora's third in as many games and matched the BU season record of eight shared by junior Amanda Clack (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro), Natalie Quinn and Brittany Mynsberge.
Southern Illinois answered with six runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 6-1 lead. Alicia Garza had a one-out single and Hanson followed with a two-run homer as the Salukis jumped ahead 2-1. A Bradley error was followed by a single and another BU error to load the bases. The Braves threw out a runner at the plate on a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning but the third Bradley error in the frame allowed another run to cross the plate. Held provided the big hit of the inning with a three-run double to right as the three Bradley errors led to four unearned runs for the Salukis.
Bradley got one run back in the top of the sixth inning after Mitchell led off the inning with a single and stole second. Mitchell moved to third base on a Bachkora ground out and came around to score on an SIU error on a ball hit by senior Miriam Wegmann (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) to cut the Saluki lead to 6-2.
Danielle Glosson tossed a scoreless seventh inning to close out the win for SIU. Sophomore Katie Dennis (Gilbert, Ariz./Mesquite) suffered the loss for the Braves, falling to 3-9 on the year. She struck out one and walked none in three and two-third innings in relief of Clack, while surrendering six runs (two earned) and five hits.
Bradley closes out the three-game series at Southern Illinois Sunday with a noon game in Carbondale, Ill.
