Southern Illinois University
2-2
Stephen F. Austin
1-3
Salukis win series finale against Stephen F. Austin
02/13/2011 | 12:00:00 | Softball
Feb. 13, 2011
By Megan Kramper
SIUSalukis.com
HOUSTON, Texas - In the series finale, two freshman stepped up big for the Southern Illinois softball team as it defeated Stephen F. Austin at the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational.
Jayna Spivey hit her second homerun in as many days and Taylor Orsburn had a RBI double to help the Salukis to a 6-3 victory over Lady Jacks.
The Salukis (2-2) got ahead early as they capitalized on two Lady Jacks errors that pushed two runs across the plate in the bottom of the first while Orsburn's two run double and Natalee Weissinger added an RBI single to put the Dawgs up 4-0 in the same inning.
The Lady Jacks cut the lead to 4-2 in the third, but Jayna Spivey gave the Salukis some insurance as she hit a two run homerun, in the bottom of the sixth.
Head coach Kerri Blaylock said the offense was a highlight for the team in its opening weekend and the effort from Orsburn and Spivey helped the Salukis in close games.
"Taylor and Jayna have hit the ball well all weekend and gave us a huge spark offensively to solidify and give us a comfortable lead in games," head coach Kerri Blaylock said.
Orsburn went 2-for-3 on the day with a single and double while Haley Gorman, Morgan Barchan, and Natalee Weissinger all contributed singles to the effort.
A combined 15 strikeouts were recorded as Danielle Glosson (1-1) earned the save for the Salukis and the team had four stolen bases in the victory.
"I thought the pitching staff did really well and to come out of the tournament 2-2 is good for us," Blaylock said.
Blaylock said a benefit to playing tough teams early and will have valuable experience when they face a tough schedule at the Bulldog Round-Robin hosted by Mississippi State beginning on Friday.
"I'm just looking for the girls to get better and better each weekend and at this time in the season we just want to learn from out mistakes," Blaylock said.
The Salukis are back in action next Friday in Starkville, Miss. when they face the Butler Bulldogs at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Peters, Alex (1-1)
L: Thomas, Carlie (0-2)
S: Glosson, Danielle (1)
Batting:
2B: Price, Amber 1
RBI: Arana, Elizabeth 1 ; Brown, Bethany 1 ; Liles, Lacy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Price, Amber 1 ; Arana, Elizabeth 1 ; Wooten, Nicole 1
SB: Price, Amber 1
Batting:
2B: Orsburn, Taylor 1
HR: Spivey, Jayna 1
RBI: Gorman, Haley 1 ; Spivey, Jayna 2 ; Orsburn, Taylor 2
SH: Duran, Mallory 2 ; Barchan, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duran, Mallory 1 ; Barchan, Morgan 1 ; Gorman, Haley 1 ; Spivey, Jayna 2 ; Weissinger, Natalee 1
SB: Gorman, Haley 1 ; Weissinger, Natalee 1 ; Shelton, Sydney 1 ; Held, Chelsea 1
HBP: Gorman, Haley 1 ; VadeBoncouer, Allie 1
