Southern Illinois University
38-19
Missouri State
21-32
Softball defeats Missouri State, advances to MVC Championship game
05/15/2010 | 12:00:00 | Softball
May 15, 2010
By Beth Miller
www.SIUSalukis.com
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Southern Illinois Softball team defeated Missouri State, 4-3, Saturday, advancing the Salukis to the championship game at the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Southern Illinois will look for their first tournament championship title since 1991 today, as the Salukis face Creighton in the final game.
SIU (38-19) and Missouri State (21-32) battled through the first few innings, before both teams settled down and Southern Illinois earned the 4-3 win.
The Bears got things rolling early, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Danielle Glosson relieved Alex Peters after Missouri State grabbed a 2-0 lead, striking out two batters to end the inning.
SIU answered in the bottom of the first with back-to-back home runs from Alicia Garza and Cristina Trapani, tying the game at 2-2.
Garza's home run puts her tied for SIU's all-time career RBI record. The senior has 132 career RBIs.
Chelsea Held came up with an extra-base hit in the bottom of the second, with a double left field. Held then advanced to third off a sacrifice bunt from Alicia Junker. Sophomore Haley Gorman powered her second career home run with a two-run shot over the right field wall. The Salukis gained a 4-2 lead over the Bears.
Missouri State finally relieved Natalie Rose h the first time this weekend in the bottom of the third inning, bringing in Lauren Supak. The Bears would put up one more run, as Ashley Knehans homered in the top of the fourth closing the gap to 4-3. But the Salukis would hold onto the lead, advancing to the championship game with a 4-3 win over Missouri State.
Glosson boasts a 0.89 ERA at the tournament, throwing 23.2 innings and striking out 35 at the plate. The junior has allowed only nine hits, two runs and eight walks in three appearances.
Trapani is batting .300 for the Salukis in the tournament with two home runs and three RBI. The catcher boasts a .900 slugging percentage and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on the weekend.
Southern Illinois and Creighton will meet in the championship game this afternoon at Buel Field. The two teams faced the last time Southern advanced to the championship game in 2007.
Today's championship game between Southern Illinois and Creighton will be aired on FSMidwest at 2:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Glosson, Danielle (25-13)
L: Rose, Natalie (9-13)
Batting:
HR: Knehans, Ashley 1
RBI: Knehans, Ashley 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Gammon, Christa 1 ; Schwark, Jenna 1 ; Knehans, Ashley 1
Batting:
2B: HELD, Chelsea 1
HR: Gorman, Haley 1 ; Garza, Alicia 1 ; Trapani, Cristina 1
RBI: Gorman, Haley 2 ; Garza, Alicia 1 ; Trapani, Cristina 1
SH: Junker, Alicia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gorman, Haley 1 ; Garza, Alicia 1 ; Trapani, Cristina 1 ; HELD, Chelsea 1
SB: Gorman, Haley 1
