Southern Illinois University
13-3
SIU Edwardsville
13-4
No. 18 Softball splits first day of Coach B Classic
03/07/2009 | 12:00:00 | Softball
SIUE Box Score
Wisconsin Box Score
March 7, 2009
By Kyle Herm
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The No. 18 Southern Illinois softball team (14-3) split Saturday's games of the Coach B Southern Classic with a 4-1 loss to SIU-Edwardsville, and 3-0 shutout win over Wisconsin.
The opening setback to SIUE gave Southern its first two-game losing streak of the season after falling to Illinois on Friday, however the resurgent Salukis came back with their seventh shutout win of the season behind sophomore Danielle Glosson.
Glosson scattered four hits, all singles, while striking out nine Badgers in her second career complete-game shutout.
"I thought Danielle (Glosson) took it to another level during the fifth, sixth and seventh innings," said head coach Kerri Blaylock. "We didn't have that yesterday (against Illinois) and I was proud of they way she battled and really went after it."
In SIU's first game, starter Nikki Waters only allowed five hits with eight strikeouts, however two hits left the yard for all four Cougars' runs.
"I didn't think Nikki (Waters) threw bad today and I thought she was in command with her pitches," Blaylock said. "The problem is when you're playing a good hitting team they will capitalize on your mistakes. It's very disappointing to lose, but you have to give them credit because they did a good job."
SIU-Edwardsville's win over the 18th-ranked Salukis was its second win over a ranked team this week after beating No. 12 Missouri 2-0 on Wednesday.
Southern continues play in the Coach B Classic at 12 and 4 p.m. against Wisconsin and Western Illinois on Sunday.
SIU-Edwardsville 4 #18 Southern Illinois 1
SIU-Edwardsville shortstop Kasey Schlafke hit a three-run home run to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth en route to an upset win over the Salukis 4-1.
The Cougars' No. 1 and 2 hitters, Courtney Mall and Schlafke, did all the offensive damage against SIU sophomore starter Nikki Waters.
The duo combined for four out of the team's five hits including a double, two home runs and all four RBI.
The Salukis on the other hand were only able to muster two hits off SIUE starter Erika Taylor who earned her eighth win.
Waters suffered her first loss of the season with eight strikeouts.
SIU-Edwardsville, designated as the home team, jumped out to a quick 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first on a lead-off solo home run by Mall.
Taylor kept the Saluki offense without a hit through the first three innings until freshman Mallory Duran led off the fourth with her first career double into the right field gap.
Duran advanced to third, but Taylor proceeded to retire senior Katie Wagner and sophomore Chelsea Held to end SIU's first scoring chance.
Waters matched Taylor in the circle though, and struck out the side to roll through the fourth innings to keep SIU in striking distance.
An inning later, senior outfielder Katie Schmidt tied the game, 1-1, on a soaring home run into the heart of a vicious wind coming out of center field.
It was Schmidt's third homer of the year, but unfortunately SIU's only offensive production in the game.
#18 Southern Illinois 3 Wisconsin 0
The Salukis took an aggressive 2-0 first-inning lead on a RBI double by junior Alicia Garza and run-scoring single by senior Katie Wagner.
After a scoreless second, third and fourth inning, Southern pushed another run across in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded walk by Wagner to make the final 3-0.
Glosson limited the Badgers to four singles and did not walk a batter to pick up her fourth win and first complete-game shutout of the season.
The Salukis drew a season-high seven walks, but were unable to take full advantage of the Wisconsin pitching mistakes by stranding seven runners in the game.
"As a team sometimes, even though I don't think it's intentional, we sometimes settle in," Blaylock said. "We can't do that though and need to be more aggressive and score runs in bunches to help our pitching staff."
Garza finished the game 2-for-2 with a stolen base, and Duran reached on a fielder's choice to extend her on-base streak to all 17 games this year.
The freshman from Windsor, Colo. also scored her team-leading 12th run of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: TAYLOR, Erika (8-2)
L: Waters, Nikki (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Duran, Mallory 1
HR: Schmidt, Katie 1
RBI: Schmidt, Katie 1
SH: Petty, Chelsea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schmidt, Katie 1
HBP: Garza, Alicia 1
Batting:
2B: SCHLAFKE, Kasey 1
HR: MALL, Courtney 1 ; SCHLAFKE, Kasey 1
RBI: MALL, Courtney 1 ; SCHLAFKE, Kasey 3
Base Running:
RUNS: MALL, Courtney 2 ; SCHLAFKE, Kasey 1 ; RUMPF, Chaleen 1
SB: WATKINSON, Katie 1
CS: PUCEL, Amanda 1
HBP: BEECHER, Nicole 1
