Southern Illinois University
Iowa
Softball Splits Two, Enter Tourney Play As Third Seed
03/14/2001 | 12:00:00 | Softball
March 9, 2001
Sunnyvale, Calif. -
Senior Erin Stremsterfer struck out 13 batters to lead Southern Illinois University Carbondale as the Salukis split a pair of games losing to No. 12 Iowa (3-1) and defeating UC-Santa Barbara (2-1) Saturday in the 15th Annual National Invitational Softball Tournament at Twin Creeks Sports Complex.
SIU fell behind nationally-ranked Iowa 1-0 in the bottom of the first when a pair of walks scored Kristin Johnson who had singled to lead things off. Another Hawkeye run came in the fourth on a single by Katy Jendrzejewski who scored Alicia Gerlach from second to take a 2-0 lead. Gerlach then connected on her second double of the game to drive in Johnson in the fifth giving Iowa its biggest lead of the game at 3-0.
In their final at-bat in the top of the seventh, Marta Viefhaus spoiled the Hawkeye shutout when she crossed home on an error by second baseman Katie Boney. Viefhaus' double to left center came a little too late as the Salukis would go onto lose 3-1.
Viefhaus went 2-for-3 with a run scored to lead SIU. Katie Kloess took the fall on the mound dropping to an even 2-2 on the year. Kloess threw four innings striking out four batters before freshman Mary Jaszczak entered the game in relief.
In the nightcap with Santa Barbara, three straight singles by Haley Viefhaus, Stremsterfer, and Julie Meier enabled SIU to score two runs in the top of the first to take 2-0 lead over the Gauchos. After cutting the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first, solid pitching by Ashley Carroll sent the Salukis three-up-three-down for the next five innings.
Countered by strong pitching by Stremsterfer as well, Santa Barbara was quited to the bottom of the fifth when single by Teresa Tolson gave the Gauchos some firepower. With two out, Stacy Bolton then drove one deep to right field, but SIU freshman Tara Glasco made an excellent grab to take away what could have been a two-run homer. The catch appeared to be enough for the Salukis to hold on to the 2-1 win.
Stremsterfer went the distance to improve to 5-2 on the season. Offensively for the Salukis, H. Viefhaus, Meier, and Stremsterfer made up the Dawgs' three hits.
SIU, now 7-6 on the year, will return to action in the National Invitational Softball Tournament Sunday at 2 p.m., as the Salukis enter double elimination tournament play as a third seed. Due to games still in progress, SIU will wait to see who its opponent will be for the 2 p.m., start.
