Salukis split on first day of play at Jacksonville Invitational

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Feb. 22, 2014

Box Score

By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Saluki softball split its first two games at the Jacksonville Invitational on Saturday, defeating Bethune-Cookman, 12-2, in five innings before falling to Jacksonville, 9-2, in the nightcap.

GAME ONE
Southern Illinois 12, Bethune-Cookman 2 (five innings)

The Salukis (5-5) busted out their bats in the first game against Bethune-Cookman (1-11), scoring a season-high 12 runs en route to a five-inning victory over the Wildcats.

Southern was led offensively by senior Jayna Spivey, who went 2-for-3 at the plate and posted four runs batted in -- which included a bases-clearing double in the fourth inning and an RBI sacrifice fly in the fifth. Spivey now owns 118 career RBIs at SIU, which ties for eighth all-time in school history.

Starting pitcher Katie Bertelsen (2-2) got in a groove after giving up two runs in the bottom of the first inning, as she ended up going the distance for Southern en route to her second win of the season.

"We really settled in," said SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock. "The kids did a good job attacking when they had pitches over the plate, Berty did a great job working both sides of the plate and we ran the bases extremely well. We just busted it wide open."

GAME TWO
Jacksonville 9, Southern Illinois 2

SIU's hot hitting cooled off quickly by the second game, though, where the Salukis (5-6) were only able to muster four hits off of the Dolphins (7-5). Two of Southern's hits came from junior Kalyn Harker (2-for-2, one RBI), and the remaining hits came from catcher Allie VadeBoncouer (1-for-3) and right fielder Meredith Wilson (1-for-2, one run).

"We just didn't hit the ball well," Blaylock said. "I think we can hit their pitching better than we did. It was disappointing for me because we let it get away from us."

The Salukis were still within striking distance by the sixth inning, only trailing Jacksonville 4-1 when the Dolphins came to bat. However, JU put up five runs over the next two frames to widen the lead and stamp out SIU's chance of a comeback.

Starting pitcher Alyssa Wunderlich (2-2) took the loss after pitching three-plus innings that saw seven hits and four runs versus three strikeouts. Freshman Shaye Harre came in relief in the fourth inning to get Wunderlich out of the jam and went on to throw a scoreless fifth.

SIU will get back at it on Sunday morning with a doubleheader vs. UIC at 8:15 a.m. CST, followed by a matchup with Savannah State at approximately 10:30 a.m.

* Due to technical difficulties, box scores are unavailable for these two games as of Saturday night. Stats will be posted as soon as they are available.

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