Southern Illinois University
Creighton
SIU Misses Opportunities, Loses Heartbreaker To Creighton
06/21/2001 | 12:00:00 | Softball
May 10, 2001
Omaha, Neb.--Senior left fielder Frenchy Nix singled in the top of the 14th inning to give No. 4 Creighton a 5-4 win over No. 3 Southern Illinois University Thursday at the 2001 Missouri Valley Conference Softball Championship.
The marathon, which marked the second straight time SIU and Creighton has battled 13 or more innings in tournament play, tied for the longest game in MVC Softball Championship history.
Southern Illinois scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning when Creighton ace pitcher Shelli Mellegaard struggled to find the plate. Mellegaard, who had walked four batters through the game's first two innings of play, gave up her fifth when Amanda Rexroat drew a one-out free ticket to begin the Saluki third. Julie Meier then laid down a SAC-bunt which allowed her to reach on an error after Mellegaard's throw pulled first baseman Marie Gieron off the bag. After a Erin Stremsterfer pop-up in foul territory let Rexroat tag and go to third, Marta Viefhaus was intentionally walked. Elissa Hopkins then drove in Rexroat and Meier on a single to center which was followed by a wild pitch that scored Viefhaus to give SIU a 3-0 lead.
With two out in the top of the fourth, the Bluejays answered when Nicole Garber singled and Kari Shank reached on an error by first baseman Netty Hallahan to fuel a two-run rally. DeAnn Kaster then singled to center allowing Garber to score when SIU catcher Karrie Fortman dropped the ball on a perfect throw from center fielder Viefhaus which would have ended the inning. Instead, the muff marked the Salukis' second crucial miscue, and as a result, Stacey Ryber was able to knock in Shank to cut the deficit to 3-2
Rexroat then took Mellegaard deep over the right field fence in the bottom of the fourth to give SIU a 4-2 lead, but the two-run cushion would only stand until the top of the fifth when Herbster came home on a wild pitch to narrow the margin to 4-3.
After both teams came up empty in the sixth, Stremsterfer headed into the top of the seventh one pitch away from victory. With two out and ahead 0-2 in the count,Gieron hit Stremsterfer's third delivery into right field to knot the game at 4-4. Seven extra innings later, Nix's hit broke the deadlock for good as Creighton went on to post the 4-3 win.
Herbster went 3-for-6 with two doubles and three runs scored to lead the Jays. Although Mellegaard earned the decision on the mound, it was Gieron who caused all sorts of problems for SIU batters. Gieron, who had just 28 strikeouts on the year prior to tonight's contest, entered the game in the sixth inning and struck out seven of SIU?s first nine hitters which led to a total of 11 Ks in 5.2 innings of work. In addition, both Mellegaard (11) and Gieron (2) combined to give up a stunning 13 walks.
SIU was led by Hallahan who posted a 3-for-6 outing which paced a Saluki offense that left 16 runners stranded over the 14-inning span. MVC Pitcher of the Year Stremsterfer suffered the loss to fall to 27-9. She struck out a career high 17 batters through the 14 complete frames.
SIU, now 35-18, will return to MVC Tournament action in a loser's bracket game against Northern Iowa Friday at 10 a.m. If the Salukis win, they will move on to face top-seeded Illinois State at 3 p.m.
