#20/23 Softball sweeps MVC-opening doubleheader against Bradley

March 17, 2007

By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Suffering back-to-back losses earlier in the week to Florida State and Alabama-Birmingham, the No. 20 Southern Illinois University softball team bounced back in its Missouri Valley Conference opening series on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep over Bradley.

The Salukis (20-6, 2-0 MVC) won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 2-0. Not only did the win keep SIU perfect (8-0) in MVC-openers under head coach Kerri Blaylock, but it is the seventh shut-out win in those eight games.

Southern Illinois kept rolling in the second game for a 9-0 win in five innings. Senior pitcher Ashley Hamby came within four outs of a perfect game in the win as Bradley's only hit in the game came with two outs in the fourth inning.

SIU and Bradley (11-5, 0-2 MVC) wrap up the three-game MVC series on Sunday with the final game beginning at 12 p.m. at SIU's Charlotte West Stadium.

Follow the action on GameTracker or listen to live play-by-play from SIUSalukis.com. A video Webcast is also available through www.SalukiVision.com.

Southern Illinois 2, Bradley 0
Scoring only two runs in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, the Saluki defense had to step up to secure the win, and step up it did as SIU went on to pick up its sixth shut-out win of the season.

Freshman Katie Wilson had her fourth multiple-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and a run scored.

After a pair or scoreless innings to start the game, Southern Illinois put its first run on the board in the third inning, taking a 1-0 lead.

With two outs on the board, junior Krystal Stein was hit by a pitch, giving the Salukis only their second baserunner of the game.

With Stein on first, freshman Alicia Garza took a big swing at the first pitch that she saw, hitting a triple to right field that scored Stein. The triple is Garza's second of the season.

Southern's other run came in the bottom of the sixth inning as Wilson led off the inning with her second hit of the day.

After moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Katie Wagner, Wilson scored on a Jayme Wamsley single to right field to give SIU a 2-0 lead and the win.

Senior Cassidy Scoggins picks up the win and improves to 8-3 on the season. She had nine strikeouts in her six innings of work, giving up one walk and four hits in her second combined shut-out win of the season.

Hamby came in for Scoggins in the top of the seventh inning, striking out two of the three batters that she faced to earn the save, her second of the season.

Ashley Birdsong takes the loss for Bradley, falling to 8-2 on the season. She struck out four Salukis while walking four and giving up seven hits.

Southern Illinois 9, Bradley 0 (5)
After scoring only two runs in the front end of the doubleheader, Southern Illinois came out with some offensive intensity in the second game, routing Bradley for a 9-0, wive-inning win.

Not only was the offense tough, but it was spread out as eight different Salukis picked up hits in the game.

Southern exploded for six runs in the second inning to take the lead.

Wilson led off the inning with a walk and put herself in scoring position following a Wagner sacrifice bunt, but it did not matter as Wamsley stepped up and, with two strikes on her, hit a two-run home run to left field to put Southern up 2-0.

With the bases empty, Becky Wegmann doubled to right-center to give SIU a baserunner. Katie Schmidt followed with a walk and Garza hit an infield single to load the bases full of Salukis.

Tiffanie Dismore was then hit by a pitch to score Wegmann from third and put the Salukis up 3-0.

Lauren Haas then hit Southern's second double of the inning, scoring Schmidt and Garza to extend the lead to five.

Clifton followed up with SIU's fifth base hit of the game, scoring Dismore, to put the Salukis up 6-0 after two innings.

With two outs and two runners on base in the third inning, it looked as if Bradley was finding a way to slow down SIU, but the Salukis turned it up for a two-out rally, scoring three more runs along the way.

With two outs on the board and two Salukis on base, Stein stepped up to the plate and turned on the first pitch that she saw, hitting her second triple of the season to score Wegmann and Schmidt.

Stein then scored on the next at-bat as Haas reached base on a Brave error, giving Southern the 9-0 lead.

Hamby, who had been flirting with a perfect game, saw it go away in the top of the fourth inning as Elizabeth Wilson hit a two-out double to right-center, BU's only hit of the game.

Even with the hit, SIU kept Bradley scoreless, holding on for the 9-0 win by virtue of the eight-run rule.

Hamby earns the win for SIU, her second one-hitter of the season, and improves to 10-3 on the season. She struck out 10 Braves in the shut-out win. The senior from Arnold, Mo. had to throw only 41 pitches in the game.

Amanda Clack takes the loss for Bradley, falling to 2-1 on the season. She struck out one Saluki, giving up two walks, two hits and four runs in her 1.1 innings of work.

Rebecca Bishop relieved Clack in the second inning and went on to finish the game. She struck out two, walking one while giving up six hits and five runs.

NOTES: - With Saturday's wins, SIU is the second MVC team this season to reach the 20-win plateau (the other is Illinois State)... The Salukis now have an eight-game winning streak going against Bradley, dating back to 2004; including Saturday's games, the past five have been shut-out wins.

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