Southern Illinois University
Rutgers
Softball Downs Rutgers, Wins Third Straight
02/22/2002 | 12:00:00 | Softball
Feb. 22, 2002
Boca Raton, Fla. - Sophomore Haley Viefhaus hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning to give Southern Illinois (5-1) a three-run lead as the Salukis never looked back in a 6-4 win over Rutgers (0-1) earlier today at the Florida Atlantic Invitational.
Despite committing three errors, SIU made up for its defensive miscues with solid hitting which kept the Salukis' winning streak alive at three games.
Rutgers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Brittney Neer scored on an illegal pitch by SIU's Renee Mueller. Neer, who reached on an error by second baseman Tahira Saafir, would advance to third on a fielder's choice by Megan Asselta before coming home.
SIU didn't get on the scoreboard until the bottom half of the second inning when a Jen Guenther walk began a two-run rally. With one on, Elissa Hopkins tripled home Guenther to tie the game at 1-1 before Adie Viefhaus flied out to plate Hopkins giving the Dawgs a 2-1 lead.
The Salukis added to their lead in the fourth when H. Viefhaus' two-run blast over the right field wall made it 4-1. Viefhaus' homer, which marked SIU's fourth of the season, scored Kendra Moore who singled earlier in the frame.
A walk by Saafir then set up another threat in the fifth as a Maria Damico triple and a fielder's choice by Guenther brought home two more runs to give the Dawgs a 6-1 advantage.
Trailing by five, the Scarlet Knights cut into the Saluki lead in the sixth inning when a Jennifer Card double drove in Asselta who had reached on an error.
With Card on second, Mueller was replaced on the mound by Katie Kloess who calmly recorded the last out to keep Rutgers in check as SIU held a 6-2 lead.
Rutgers kept battling in the seventh as Maritza Valenzuela singled to begin another rally. Following a Nicole Casey strikeout, Jennifer Jacoby stepped in to deliver a one-out double which scored a pair of runs. Freshman Amy Harre then entered to pitch and forced Asselta to fly out and Megan Antonucci to ground out, capping off the 6-4 win.
Mueller (1-1) pitched 5.2 innings with two strikeouts en route to her first win of the season. Kloess and Harre then threw two-thirds of an inning apiece to help close the door on the win. Harre, however, earned her third save on the year.
"It was kind of a sloppy finish, but we are glad we got a win," said head coach Kerri Blaylock. "Renee had a solid pitching performance, but we committed three errors, and that is something we need to clean up."
SIU will return to action at the Florida Atlantic Invitational later today against Florida International. Start time is scheduled for 3 p.m.
