Southern Illinoise University Athletics
#18/20 Softball set for showdown with Creighton
03/29/2007 | 12:00:00 | Softball
March 29, 2007
By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The No. 18/20 Southern Illinois University softball team (27-6, 8-0 MVC) hits the road for a three-game series this weekend at Creighton (24-6, 6-0 MVC) in a showdown of the only remaining unbeaten teams in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Games 34 - 36 Game Notes (Creighton Series)
The series promises to showcase some of the best pitching in the Valley this season with SIU's Cassidy Scoggins (13-3, 1.56 ERA) and Ashley Hamby (12-3, 1.47 ERA) squaring off against Creighton's Tara Oltman (14-2, 0.78 ERA) and Amanda Hess (9-3, 1.57 ERA).
The team's also come in with two of the top home-run hitters in the league this season. Creighton's T.J. Eadus enters the series with nine, ranked second in the Valley, while SIU's Katie Wilson is tied for third in the MVC with eight.
Last year's series between the teams was cut one game short because of inclement weather. The Salukis and Bluejays split in the series; Creighton won the first game 2-1 while SIU came back to win the second game, 8-2.
It was Creighton, though, that dealt SIU its first blow in the MVC Tournament in Omaha, Neb., beating the Salukis 2-1 in the first-round game.
The last time the teams met in Omaha, it was SIU coming out the victor, taking the 2-1 series win.
Along with the play on the field, the matchup also pits two of the top coaches in the Valley against each other.
In his 14th year as head coach of the Bluejays, Brent Vigness sports a 422-311-1 record as Creighton's head coach. Overall, Vigness has a career record of 570-382-2 in 19 years of coaching.
SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock is coming off of her 300th career win last weekend in SIU's series sweep of Indiana State. Blaylock is now 301-122 all-time as Southern's head coach.
Action in the three-game series is set to begin at 12 p.m., Saturday with a doubleheader at the Creighton Sports Complex. The series will wrap up with a single game at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
GameTracker is available for all three games as well as an audio Web cast through SIUSalukis.com with Patrick Erickson.
