Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Softball Opens 2004 Season At Triple Crown Invitational
02/03/2004 | 12:00:00 | Softball
Feb. 3, 2004
By Lou Antoine
SIUSalukis.com
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - All eyes will be on the Southern Illinois University softball team this weekend, when the #24 Salukis open the 2004 season at the Triple Crown Invitational in St. Augustine, Fla. on Feb. 6-8. SIU began the 2003 season by winning the Triple Crown Invitational with a 4-0 record on the way to an NCAA Tournament berth, a finish among the final sixteen teams in the 2003 NCAA Tournament, a 39-14 record and a #22 final ranking.
Despite all the expectations on the 2004 team, head coach Kerri Blaylock is focused on winning the season-opener against Marshall and not necessarily winning the Triple Crown Invitational title again.
"I'd love to win the tournament and it's every team's goal to win the tournament, but I'm just worried about winning the Marshall game and then I'll worry about the games after that. I'm focused on Marshall," said Blaylock. "I want to see enthusiasm and effort. If we give a great effort, play within ourselves and concentrate, I believe we can play with anyone. If we don't have all that, someone will sneak up on us."
The Salukis will meet Marshall for the first time on Friday at 8 a.m. The Thundering Herd is coming off a 41-16 record and first place regular season finish. Southern ends Friday play at 10:30 a.m. with a rematch against Bethune-Cookman, an NCAA team that SIU's Amy Harre threw her first no-hitter against in a 6-0 win last year at the 2003 Triple Crown Invitational. BCC went 0-2 at the NCAA Tournament after a 47-21 overall record and 14-0 first place finish in the MEAC. SIU has a 2-0 series advantage against the Wildcats.
Saturday at 1 p.m. Jacksonville will also be a first-time opponent for SIU. The Dolphins are coming off a 23-33 record in the school's first season of softball. Southern will end pool play on Saturday at 6 p.m. with a game against Stetson, who finished 36-14 overall and 14-6 in the Atlantic Sun (third place). SIU leads the series with the Hatters 4-0, including a doubleheader sweep in 1996.
"I think we'll be facing some good competition. Marshall is picked to win the Mid-American Conference and I believe Stetson is picked to finish first or second in the Atlantic Sun Conference, so we'll face some good teams right from the start. Marshall received some Top 25 votes in the NFCA poll. Bethune-Cookman played in the NCAA Tournament last year and those three are all in our pool. We'll also have a chance to play teams like Boston College and Indiana once we get to bracket play," added Blaylock.
With a #24 ranking, Blaylock knows there will be some added incentive by the opponents all season.
"Everybody wants to beat a Top 25 team. I can remember when we played the Florida State's and Michigan's at tournaments and won, we were really hyped up for them when we upset them, so everyone will be wanting to beat us. How we handle it is the key. I told the kids I don't want us to play any differently, we just need to play our game. We don't have a monkey on our back. I'm going to approach things the same way and plan to go out and have fun. I'm ready to get going," Blaylock stated.
The 2003 team won SIU's first three NCAA Tournament games and earned SIU and the MVC's first NCAA Tournament at-large bid. The Salukis finished the season with its first Top 25 national rankings, adding a #23 (ESPN.com/USA Softball) finish to the #22 NFCA ranking.
The Salukis return all ten starters, including NCAA Region VIII All-Tournament members Jenny Doehring, Haley Viefhaus, Maria Damico and Amy Harre. Harre led SIU and the MVC with 22 wins and a 1.19 ERA and is the career ERA leader at SIU (1.04).
She is one of the Salukis' MVC-high six athletes that were named all-MVC in 2003. Katie Louis (1B) joined Harre on the All-MVC First Team as an At-Large selection. Louis was also named Rookie-of-the-Year after setting a new SIU record with 12 home runs. Lindsey Bonnell (OF), Kelly Creek (DP), Doehring (SS) and Haley Viefhaus (3B) were all named to the All-MVC Second Team. Harre was also named to the 2003 Great Lakes All-Region First Team and Creek collected Great Lakes All-Region Second Team honors. Bonnell and Haley Viefhaus were also named to the MVC All-Tournament Team.
Results from the Triple Crown Invitational will be available at www.siusalukis.com as soon as possible after each game.
