Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Softball travels to Missouri for NCAA Tournament rematch
03/20/2006 | 12:00:00 | Softball
March 20, 2006
After sweeping Northern Iowa last weekend in its Missouri Valley Conference-opening series, the Southern Illinois University softball team travels to the University for Missouri for a rematch from last year's NCAA Tournament.
The Salukis (17-3) retain their position atop the MVC with the three wins over the Panthers. Junior pitcher Cassidy Scoggins was named MVC Pitcher of the Week Monday following her efforts against UNI.
Scoggins went 3-0 over the weekend with a 0.00 ERA. She struck out 20 batters and gave up only four hits, none of which were for extra bases.
The Tigers (15-11) come into Wednesday's game after some recent struggles. But, don't let the record fool you - Missouri is an experienced team that is simply the victim of a difficult schedule.
Even though they have 11 losses under their belt, this is still basically the same team that laid the final 9-0 blow to the Salukis to eliminate SIU from the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
Missouri's 11 losses this season, for the most part, have come against some pretty stout competition. The Tigers went 2-1 against Georgia Tech early in the season; lost to #1 Arizona, North Carolina State, #24/25 North Carolina, #19/18 Auburn and #21 Louisville.
Leading the Tigers in batting this season are Jen Bruck and Micaela Minner. Bruck leads the team with a .362 (25-for-69) average. She also has five doubles, a triple, five home runs and 12 RBI.
Minner follows right behind Bruck with a .347 (26-for-75) average. She leads the team in doubles (7), home runs (6) and RBI (29).
Bruck also leads the Missouri pitching staff with a 2.65 ERA. She has a 13-8 record and has seen most of the action as she has pitched 116.1 innings. She has 81 strikeouts and 46 walks, while giving up 94 hits.
Behind Bruck in amount of action is Megan Dennis. She has a 3.99 ERA in her 45.2 innings pitched. Dennis has 34 strikeouts, 26 walks and 45 hits given up.
Action is set to begin at 2 p.m. at Missouri's University Field. Gametracker will be available, as well as an audio Webcast from www.siusalukis.com with Thad Jackson.
