Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Softball Opens 2003 Season At Triple Crown Invitational On Friday
02/05/2003 | 12:00:00 | Softball
Feb. 5, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Carbondale, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University softball team opens the 2003 season at the 12-team Triple Crown Invitational in St. Augustine, Fla. on Friday, Feb 7. The tournament runs Feb. 7-8 at Treaty Park.
"I'm excited that we're finally going to be playing this weekend. I think we'll be pretty good. Our goal is to play for a tournament title and eventually an MVC crown. We are young and I'd like to use the this tournament to allow some kids to get some innings to see where we're at since we're deep. Hopefully this will help us get ready for the conference schedule," said Kerri Blaylock, SIU head coach.
The Salukis open the year with Purdue University at 8 a.m., followed by host Central Florida at 10:30 a.m. in pool play on Friday. SIU begins bracket play on Saturday at 7:45 a.m. against Bethune-Cookman before facing an unknown opponent later that afternoon.
"We open with a Purdue team that won 37 games last year and played for the title of this tournament, followed by UCF, who won 42 games in 2002 and then Bethune-Cookman, a team that has played in a regional the last three years. After that we won't get a break with Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas from the SEC in the tournament. We'll play hard and see what happens. We always play in tough tournaments to get toughened up for the MVC season."
SIU enters the 2003 season with six returning starters including top pitcher Amy Harre, Haley Viefhaus (3B), Adie Viefhaus (SS moved to C), Maria Damico (CF), Katie Jordan (LF) and Kelly Creek (DP). Veterans Renee Mueller (P), Katie Kloess (P), Tara Glasco (OF) and Kendra Moore (OF) also provide experience.
The top pitching staff in the MVC (1.23 era) returns intact (Harre, Mueller & Kloess) after winning the era title in the Valley for the sixth straight year. Harre, a sophomore, led the MVC's top pitching staff with a 0.89 earned run average and an 18-9 record. Seniors Mueller (1.01 ERA, 8-5) and Kloess (2.90 ERA, 5-3) helped SIU collect 231 strikeouts in 330 innings.
"Our opponents at this tournament have high averages so it should be a good test for our pitchers. I also want to see how our kids hit the ball in a game situation. I want to get better as the tournament goes on and get our newcomers used to traveling, game days and the experience of Division I softball," added Blaylock.
Blaylock has added seven newcomers including junior transfers Jennifer Doehring (a former Ohio Valley Conference Player-of-the-Year) at shortstop and Lindsey Bonnell (Lewis & Clark Junior College All-American) in the outfield. Freshmen Christina Andrews (UT), Samantha Carter (2B), Lauren Roney (C), Andrea Hylla (3B) and Katie Louis (1B) will compete for playing time and provide depth this season.
The 2002 SIU squad finished 31-17 overall and 17-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference, just a half game out of second place in the regular season. Blaylock begins her fourth year with a 108-58 record as SIU's head coach.
