CARBONDALE, Ill. – Senior Caitlyn McCarron went 2-for-4 with RBI and hit a two-run, seventh-inning homer to help Bradley rally for a 6-5 victory at Southern Illinois to close the three-game series Sunday afternoon at Charlotte West Stadium.
 
Bradley (15-13 overall, 1-2 MVC) had jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings of play, but needed the late heroics after Southern Illinois (14-14 overall, 2-1 MVC) broke a 4-4 tie with a run in the bottom of the sixth.
 
After collecting just four hits in both games of Saturday's doubleheader, the Braves notched three hits in the top of the first.  Senior Kelly Kapp got things started with a single and a stolen base for her 32^nd steal of the season.  McCarron drove in Kapp from second with single to give Bradley a 1-0 lead and later scored on an Elizabeth Leonard single to give the Braves a 2-0 advantage. 
 
An error and single to open the top of the second helped led to another two runs for Bradley.  Kapp followed with a sacrifice bunt and junior Maria Schroeder drove in both Stephanie Campos and Gabby Stoner with a double to push Bradley's lead to 4-0.
 
Southern Illinois cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second on a two-run homer off the bat of Sydney Jones and the Salukis knotted the game at 4-4 with two more runs in the bottom of the third.  SIU had the bases loaded with two outs in the third, when Merri Ann Patterson tied the contest with a two-run single. 
 
Both teams were retired in order in the fourth and Bradley got out of a jam in the fifth.  A two-out walk and back-to-back hits loaded the bases in the Saluki fifth, but Megan Mahaffy got a pop out to end the frame. 
 
SIU grabbed its first lead of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth.  Maddy Vermejan led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before Jaelen Hull took over in the circle for the Braves.  Hull got the second out of the inning with a strikeout, but a two-out single by Susie Baranski drove in Vermejan from second to give the Salukis a 5-4 lead.
 
Kapp, who now has a season-best 14-game hit streak, opened the top of the seventh with a single and has had multiple hits in seven of the last eight contests.  McCarron ripped her third home run of the season with a two-run shot over the fence in right center as Bradley went back in front 6-5. 
 
Southern Illinois tried to rally in the bottom half.  Shaye Harre drew a four-pitch walk to open the Saluki seventh and Katelyn Massa followed with a single.  Bradley turned a double play on a Patterson lineout, however, and Hull struck Vermejan to close out the 6-5 victory.
 
Hull earned the victory out of the bullpen as she matched a career-best with her seventh win of the season.  She struck out two and walked two in 1.2 scoreless innings of work. 
 
Bradley will play a mid-week non-conference game Wednesday, taking on Illinois in a 6 p.m. game in Champaign, Ill.