Salukis sweep doubleheader at Loyola

Saturday, April 18

Chicago, Ill.

2:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

16-22-1, 0

Loyola

13-29, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	5	8	1
Loyola Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	8	3

04/18/2015 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score

April 18, 2015

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

G1 Box Score | G2 Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Southern Illinois softball team swept a doubleheader at Loyola on Saturday afternoon. SIU (16-22-1, 10-9 MVC) run-ruled the Ramblers (13-29, 3-15 MVC) 8-0 in six innings in the opener and won 5-3 in the second game.

Katie Bertelsen threw her second-straight complete-game shutout in the opener. She allowed Loyola just two hits and retired 10-straight Loyola hitters to close the game. Southern's offense was dominant from the second inning on, going 11-for-25. Shaye Harre started the runs parade with a solo home run to lead off the second inning.

"It started off with Shaye hitting that bomb," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "That got us rolling. Bertie did a great job keeping the ball down and doing the things we needed her to do."

After shutting out Evansville on Wednesday, Bertelsen (13-12) was again dominant in the circle on Saturday. With the bases loaded in the second inning, she got a strikeout to end the inning. Only one of the next 13 hitters reached base, and she collected her league-leading ninth MVC win of the season, Eight of the nine spots in Southern's lineup reached base at least once, and Southern didn't commit an error in the field.

"That was the key in game one," Blaylock said. "We never let our foot off the gas pedal. We moved runners and came through in RBI situations. It was a complete game."

Harre pitched for the Salukis in game two and pitched the second complete game of her career. Through six innings, Harre was working on a complete-game shutout of her own before the Ramblers scored three unearned runs in the seventh.

"She's been giving us good starts as of late," Blaylock said of Harre. "That's what I told the hitters. Our pitchers are throwing some good games for us, and now it's time for us to come up with some runs for them."

Kelsey Gonzalez led off the second game with a solo home run, but SIU stranded the bases loaded in the first and third innings. Harre pitched out of a second-and-third, no-out jam in the second inning to give SIU the momentum, and Southern put up a four-run fourth to give Harre plenty of breathing room.

"Shaye throwing a complete game was huge," Blaylock said. "It allows us to have Savanna (Dover) ready to go for tomorrow if we need her."

SIU hit .345 between the two games, and Kalyn Harker (4-for-6), Harre (3-for-6), Merri Anne Patterson (2-for-5), Kelsey Gonzalez (3-for-8), Brook Womack (2-for-6) and Sydney Jones (2-for-8) all had multi-hit days.

"The kids were just making plays, being calm and doing the little things," Blaylock said. "Today, that's what helped."

UP NEXT: SIU and Loyola will play the final game of the series on Sunday at noon at Loyola Softball park.

NOTES: Kalyn Harker is hitting .469 in MVC play (19 games) after going 4-for-6 today...Harker is riding a five-game hitting streak...Meredith Wilson has reached in a team-best nine-straight games since returning from injury...Savannah Fisher hit her third home run of the season and first since March 8 vs. Northern Illinois...SIU improved to 7-1 in the all-time Loyola series...Katie Bertelsen entered the week with two complete-game shutouts in her career (both in 2014) and has two-straight complete-game shutouts in her last two starts...The game-one run-rule win was SIU's first run-rule win of the year...The top four hitters in SIU's lineup went 12-for-25 on the day with 10 runs scored, six walks, two doubles, two home runs and four RBIs.

FINAL: #Salukis 8, Ramblers 0 (6). Katie Bertelsen throws her 2nd-straight complete-game shutout. SIU gets its first run-rule W of the year

— SIU Softball (@SIU_Softball) April 18, 2015