SIU drops two to league-leading Drake

Saturday, April 11

Carbondale, Ill.

2:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

13-20-1, 0

Drake

23-12, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Drake	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	4	6	0
Southern Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	1

04/11/2015 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score

April 11, 2015

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

G1 Box Score | G2 Box Score

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois softball team (13-20-1, 7-7 MVC) lost both games in a doubleheader against league-leading Drake on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs (23-12, 12-2 MVC) got a three-run seventh to win the opener 3-2 and took the second game 4-1 behind a two-hitter from freshman pitcher Nicole Newman.

"They're No. 1 (in the MVC) for a reason," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "Our kids did a really good job today coming out with a lot of energy and being ready to play. If we do that on a consistent basis, we're going to win some ballgames."

Drake entered the game leading the Valley in nearly every pitching category and showed why on Saturday, with two aces on staff. Rebekah Schmidt pitched a complete game to open and freshman Nicole Newman shut down the Saluki offense in the second.

SIU got two runs early on Schmidt, who entered the game with a 2.77 ERA. Kelsey Gonzalez and Sydney Jones singled in the first inning, and Shaye Harre scored Gonzalez on an RBI groundout. Meredith Wilson took the third pitch of the second inning to the deepest part of the park to give SIU a 2-0 lead and herself her third home run of the year. SIU only had two other hits off Schmidt, who got out of a bases-loaded, one out jam in the third with two strikeouts.

Katie Bertelsen outdueled Schmidt for most of the game. Southern's ace took a one-hitter into the seventh inning, but Drake hit a two-run home and a solo shot in the final frame to get a 3-2 win.

"They have the No. 1 pitching staff in the conference," Blaylock said. "We scored two off of Schmidt and we had bases loaded in another inning. We made great cuts. We were very prepared to play. We had a lot of energy. I'm really proud of our kids. (Drake) just battled back and squared up two balls late."

In the second game, Newman was dominant. She had a no-hitter until Sydney Jones broke it up with two outs in the sixth. Merri Anne Patterson hit a solo home run in the seventh, but that was all SIU's offense could muster against the freshman. SIU actually pushed Newman's ERA up in Valley play; she came into the game with an 0.85 ERA in league games.

The loss spoiled another great outing from SIU freshman Savanna Dover, who held the Bulldogs to just one run in 5.1 innings to keep SIU within striking distance throughout the game. Dover allowed one or fewer earned runs for her third-straight appearance and has a 1.20 ERA in that span (11.2 innings).

SIU opened MVC play 6-0 after sweeping Bradley and Wichita State but has lost 10 of 12 since, including seven of eight MVC games. The Drake series is the final one in a series of tough opponents--Southern's first five Valley series have been against teams picked to finish in the top half of the conference, plus Drake, who has a two-game lead in the league at the halfway point despite being picked to finish sixth in the preseason. Through that gauntlet, SIU is in the middle of the pack in the league at 7-7.

"We're playing great teams," Blaylock said. "Think of who we've played: We played Illinois State, with an RPI in the 60s; we're playing Drake, who is No. 1 in our conference; we're playing great teams. We had a magical run of six games, but you can't expect that to happen every time."

SIU and Drake will close the series with a noon game tomorrow.

"Offensively, we need to come ready to play," Blaylock said. "We held them to three and four runs. If we do that again tomorrow, we should have a shot to win."