Southern Illinois University
18-6, 3-3
Northern Iowa
19-8, 5-1
No. 20 Softball wins series finale 4-0 over UNI
03/22/2009 | 12:00:00 | Softball
March 22, 2009
By Kyle Herm
www.SIUSalukis.com
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -Reigning MVC Pitcher of the Week Katie McNamara tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout to power 20th-ranked Saluki softball (18-6 3-3 MVC) past Northern Iowa (19-8, 5-1 MVC) 4-0 on Sunday.
The senior lefthander dominated the league's top-ranked offense en route to her eighth win and fourth shutout of the season.
"MAC (McNamara) was really steady today and had a calming presence about her," said head coach Kerri Blaylock. "She stepped up and did a great job and did exactly what we needed."
After giving up back-to-back singles in the bottom of the first, McNamara went on to retire 20 of the final 21 batters, including 16 straight, with five strikeouts to stymie Northern Iowa's potent attack.
"It was definitely good to get out of the first inning because they had their number four, five and six batters up with runners on," McNamara said. "Their middle hitters are all good so getting out without allowing a run helped my confidence and I just buckled down from there."
She finished the weekend with 11 1/3 scoreless innings while only allowing two hits to increase her conference scoreless inning streak to 17 2/3 innings through the first two weeks of MVC play.
While McNamara froze the UNI offense, the Saluki bats were hot early and often to provide some heat on a blustery, bone-chilling afternoon.
Freshman Haley Gorman singled to lead off the game, and sophomore Chelsea Held crushed a double into the left-center gap off UNI starter Jen Larson to start the hitting bombardment in the first.
A batter later junior Katie Wilson lined a two-out RBI-single into left field for the first of four SIU runs to take a 1-0 lead.
Southern pushed another run across in the third after Held singled to left field to lead off the inning.
She eventually reached third two batters later, and with two outs senior third baseman Katie Wagner smoked a RBI single to right field to put SIU up 2-0.
Senior Katie Schmidt added to the lead 3-0 in the fifth with a timely, two-out RBI bloop single to score Wilson from second, and Held drove in freshman Mallory Duran from second in the sixth with a ripped single into left center to make the final 4-0.
The Salukis finished with 11 hits, drilled a season-high three doubles and plated all four runs with clutch two-out hits.
For the second straight game, Held ignited the offense - going 3-for-4 with a run, RBI and double to complete a sensational three-game series.
The sophomore outfielder went 8-for-13 overall with three runs scored, two doubles, a RBI and stolen base.
"When she (Held) swings the bat and has a good approach at the plate she can do some pretty great things," Blaylock said. "She's playing really well right now and working really hard and I'm happy she's reaping the benefits from all of that."
Duran and Schmidt also had two hits apiece, which tied Duran's career-best set in the first game of the season against Long Beach State.
Southern Illinois will have a quick turn around with a 3 p.m. doubleheader this Tuesday, March 24 at Evansville, followed by a 4 p.m. non-conference home game against Eastern Illinois on Wednesday, March 25.
"I think we let one game get away from us this weekend, but we just have go come with a little more consistency," Blaylock said. "We're playing a difficult stretch of our season right now and we just have to get through it."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McNamara, Katie (8-1)
L: Larsen, Jen (9-4)
Batting:
2B: Held, Chelsea 1 ; Garza, Alicia 1 ; Schmidt, Katie 1
RBI: Held, Chelsea 1 ; Wilson, Katie 1 ; Wagner, Katie 1 ; Schmidt, Katie 1
SH: Garza, Alicia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gorman, Haley 1 ; Held, Chelsea 1 ; Wilson, Katie 1 ; Duran, Mallory 1
Base Running:
SB: Larsen, Jen 1
