Southern Illinois University
28-16
Illinois
32-15
Softball falls to No. 18/19 Illinois on the road
04/21/2010 | 12:00:00 | Softball
April 21, 2010
By Beth Miller
www.SIUSalukis.com
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Softball team fell on the road Wednesday to No. 18/19 Illinois, 9-1, in six innings. The Salukis are now 28-16 overall, while the Fighting Illini improved to 32-5 on the season.
The nationally-ranked Fighting Illini took charge, loading the bases early for what would turn into a 2-0 lead over the Salukis. Hollie Pinchback stepped up in the cleanup position with a shot deep to center field, driving in two runs with no outs on the board. The Salukis got the next two outs, but Illinois would load the bases yet again. Danielle Glosson struck out Ashley Conrad to get SIU out of the jam, forcing the Illini to leave three on base heading out of the inning.
Illinois put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning for a 4-0 lead over SIU. Hope Howell hit a triple to drive in Danielle Zymkowitz, then scored off an error by catcher Sydney Shelton for the 4-0 edge. Junior Alex Peters was brought in to pitch for Glosson following the extended lead by the Illini. Peters got the Salukis out of the inning before any runs would score.
Alicia Junker earned Southern's first hit of the day with a triple to the center field wall, the first for the sophomore. The Salukis were unable to put any runs on the board, leaving the top of the third still scoreless.
A home run from Ashley Conrad in the third inning gave Illinois a 5-0 lead. The fourth inning saw more scoring from Illinois, as the Fighting Illini put two more runs on the board for a 7-0 lead. With one runner on base, Meredith Hackett hit one over the head of Katie Wilson in center field for a double to put the Illini in scoring position at second and third. The inning would end, however, before Illinois would get any more runs on the board.
Mallory Duran earned SIU's second hit of the day with a triple to center field in the top of the sixth inning. Alicia Garza grounded out to the second baseman, allowing Duran to score from third for Southern's first run of the day.
The Fighting Illini earned the run-ruled win as a double drove in two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, cutting the game short, for a 9-1 victory.
The Salukis tallied one run and two hits on the day, both of which were triples. Southern went through all three pitchers against the Fighting Illini, striking out a total of four. SIU allowed nine runs off 11 hits, while committing one error. The Illini gave up one run off two hits and made two errors.
The Salukis will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Wichita, Kan. to take on the Shockers of Wichita State. The three game series will begin Saturday with a doubleheader at noon, followed by the final game Sunday at noon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gay, Pepper (11-1)
L: Glosson, Danielle (17-11)
Batting:
3B: Duran, Mallory 1 ; Junker, Alicia 1
RBI: Garza, Alicia 1
SH: Weissinger, Natalee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duran, Mallory 1
Batting:
2B: Zymkowitz, Danielle 1 ; Hackett, Meredith 1 ; Pinchback, Hollie 1 ; Vaji, Danielle 1
3B: Howell, Hope 1
HR: Conrad, Ashley 1
RBI: Howell, Hope 1 ; Pinchback, Hollie 4 ; Conrad, Ashley 1 ; Vaji, Danielle 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Zymkowitz, Danielle 2 ; Howell, Hope 3 ; Behrens, Bailey 1 ; Wedel, Kelley 1 ; Gallien, Audrey 1 ; Conrad, Ashley 1
SB: Zymkowitz, Danielle 2
HBP: Howell, Hope 1 ; Wedel, Kelley 1
