CARBONDALE, Ill. – Bradley lost a pair of heartbreakers to open Missouri Valley Conference play at Southern Illinois, with the Salukis scoring a pair of unearned runs in the sixth to pull out a 2-1 victory in the opener and SIU coming from behind to edge the Braves 10-9 in 10 innings in the nightcap Sunday afternoon at Charlotte West Stadium.

Freshman Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich, Ill./Lake Zurich) went 6-for-9 with two doubles, one home run, four runs and four RBI in the two games as she scored or drove in seven of Bradley's 10 runs on the day.  In addition to Schroeder's efforts, sophomore Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) was 1-for-4 in the opener and followed it up with a 3-for-6 game in the second game as she matched her career-best hit streak at nine games.

In the opener, Schroeder gave Bradley a 1-0 lead in the top of the third with a two-out solo homer.  The Braves had just five hits in the first game, but senior pitcher Alyson Spinas-Valainis (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) took a three-hit shutout into the sixth inning. 

Southern Illinois, which collected just four hits in the series opener, had runners at first and second in the bottom of the sixth after Kalyn Harker led off the frame with a single and Shaye Harre was hit by a pitch.  Spinas-Valainis retired the next two batters she faced, but a Bradley error on a ball to the outfield allowed both base runners to race home and gave the Salukis a 2-1 lead. 

SIU's Katie Bertelsen sat Bradley down in order in the top of the seventh as Southern Illinois rallied for the 2-1 victory.  Bertelsen improved to 4-5 on the year for the Salukis with the win.  Spinas-Valainis gave up a pair of unearned runs and struck out three in the complete loss in the circle for Bradley.

In the second game, Bradley jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Southern Illinois was able to rally late.  The Braves had the bases loaded in the first on singles by freshmen Elizabeth Leonard (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East) and Schroeder along with a walk by fellow freshman Erika Hansen (Fillmore, Calif./Moorpark), when senior Shannon King (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) ripped a two-run single to give Bradley a 2-0 advantage.

Southern Illinois left runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings, while singles runs by the Braves in both the third and fourth pushed the BU lead to 4-0.  Hansen, who reached base safely for the 18th consecutive game, had a two-out single and King added one of her own in the third.  Junior Kendall Duffy (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) drove in Hansen with a single to make it 3-0 in favor of Bradley.

Senior Lexi Cremeens (Dix, Ill./Mount Vernon) led off the Bradley half of the fourth with a double and the Braves had the bases loaded for Schroeder, who ripped a run-scoring single to push the BU lead to 4-0. 

Sophomore pitcher Jaelen Hull (Clifton, Ill./Bishop McNamara) took a shutout bid into the sixth before Southern Illinois was able to break through for five runs to go in front 5-4.  SIU loaded the bases with a pair of singles and walk for Lacey Newbold, who drew a base on balls to drive in the first run of the inning.  One more run came home on a single by Kelsey Gonzalez and the Salukis grabbed a 5-4 on a three-run double off the bat of Harker. 

A solo homer by Bradley sophomore Caitlyn McCarron (Dallas, Ore./Dallas) in the top of the seventh tied things up and the teams went to extra inning knotted at 5-5. 

Bradley scored two runs in the top of the eighth only to have SIU answer with two runs of its own.  Kapp had a single and scored on a Schroeder double in the Bradley half of the eighth to put the Braves in front 6-5 and King drove in her third run of the day with a double of her own to give BU a 7-5 lead.

Back-to-back SIU doubles in the bottom half of the eighth pushed one run across and Gonzalez later scored on a Harre one-out single to once again tie the game at 7-7. 

The Braves were retired in order in the ninth and SIU left the potential winning run on third after a one-out Bradley error as the teams went to the 10th inning. 

Like the eighth inning, Kapp led off the 10th frame with a single and Schroeder drove her in with a double.  Hansen followed Schroeder's double with one of her own as Bradley took a 9-7 lead. 

The lead was short lived however, as SIU was able to strike for three runs in the bottom of the 10th to pull out the 10-9 victory.  Harre had a one-out double and came home on a single Merri Ann Patterson.  Sydney Jones followed the Patterson single with a walk-off, two-run homer as Bradley suffered a loss in the final at bat for the second time in the last five games.

Bradley's last four losses have all been by one run or come in extra innings and four of the team's last 11 setbacks have come in extra innings.  The Braves had a season-high 18 hits in the second game with Schroeder doing 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI.

Bertelsen came out of the bullpen to earn the victory for SIU, striking out three in four innings of work as she evened her record at 5-5 on the year.  Spinas-Valainis also took the loss in the second game for the Braves, working 4.1 innings in relief.

Bradley and Southern Illinois close out the three-game series Monday afternoon with a 4 p.m. game in Carbondale, Ill.