Salukis split with Aces

Wednesday, April 15

Evansville, Ind.

3:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

14-21-1, 8-8

Evansville

9-34, 1-15

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

04/15/2015 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score

April 15, 2015

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

G1 Box Score | G2 Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Southern Illinois softball team split a doubleheader with Evansville on Wednesday afternoon at Cooper Stadium. SIU won the first 2-0 behind a complete-game shutout from Katie Bertelsen and lost the second when the Aces scored three in the seventh to walk off with a 5-4 win.

SIU (14-22-1, 8-9 MVC) and Evansville (10-34, 2-15 MVC) entered the game with the two highest team ERAs in the conference during league play, but both sides had trouble scoring on the other on Wednesday.

Evansville's game one starter, Cecilia Dopart, allowed just two solo home runs in the opener. Kalyn Harker hit her first of the season, and Shaye Harre hit her second. But those two runs were enough for Katie Bertelsen, who threw her third career complete-game shutout and first of the season.

Bertelsen faced adversity throughout the first game--Evansville had batters reach in six of the innings, thanks in part to four Saluki errors--but she fought through and finished the game with a perfect seventh inning.

Evansville's bats got going early in the second game. Danielle Freeman hit a home run in the first inning and the Aces sent seven to the plate, but they only got the one run to show for it. They added one in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead before SIU's bats started rolling in the fifth.

The top five hitters in Southern's lineup all reached in the fifth to tie the game at two. The very next inning, the top four batters reached, capped with Shaye Harre's two-run single to give SIU a 4-2 lead. Harre was 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs in the second game.

Savanna Dover entered in the fourth inning and shut down the Aces for 2 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit until the Aces got a one-out walk and a hit in the seventh. Bertelsen relieved Dover, but UE got back-to-back singles to score three runs and win the game, 5-4.

Southern stranded 10 runners in the second game. SIU had eight hits and drew five walks but only came away with four runs. SIU had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth but didn't score.

"The game wasn't lost in the last inning," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We need to be able to put runs on the board."

UP NEXT: SIU heads to Clarksville, Tenn., for a 3 p.m. game with Austin Peay tomorrow.

NOTES: Kalyn Harker hit a home run, her first since her sophomore season (March 30, 2013, at Illinois State)...Sydney Jones reached in both games; she's reached in 30 of 37 games at SIU...Shaye Harre was 4-for-6 with a home run, run scored and four RBIs on the day...Harre's 3-for-3 game two was her 11th multi-hit game of the season (five games with 3+ hits)...Katie Bertelsen's complete-game shutout was the first this season and third of her career; both of the others came last season...Savanna Dover lowered her season ERA for the fifth-straight appearance (2.33 ERA, .153 opponent batting average in 18 IP in that span)...Meredith Wilson is 6-for-19 (.316) since returning from an injury; she has reached in all eight games in which she's had at least two plate appearances and is riding a seven-game reached streak...Jessa Thomas had her first career two-hit game; she came into the day with two hits in her career and was 2-for-4 in her game two start.