Salukis take series from Missouri State with doubleheader sweep

Saturday, May 2

Carbondale, Ill.

2:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

21-24-1, 0

Missouri State

28-24, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Missouri State	0	0	2	0	0	2	6	2
Southern Illinois	2	2	0	4	2	10	10	1

Salukis take series from Missouri State with doubleheader sweep

05/02/2015 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score

May 2, 2015

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

G1 Box | G2 Box

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois softball team swept a doubleheader against Missouri State on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day. SIU won the first game 5-4 and run-ruled the Bears in the finale, 10-2, in five innings.

Facing a Missouri State team that came into the day just a half-game out of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference race, SIU jumped to two quick leads and shut the door from there. The Bears had the MVC's third-best ERA and were allowing teams just a .250 batting average in conference play. SIU hit .333 for the day and put up 15 runs in the doubleheader.

"I can't praise our offense enough because that's what set the tone both games," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We hit their kids hard right off the bat. We knew we'd have to hold on; we knew they have a good offense; but I thought both sides did a good job settling down. The pitchers did a great job, and we played a great game on defense, also."

In the opener, a pair SIU (21-24-1, 15-10 MVC) seniors came up big on Senior Day. Starter Katie Bertelsen won her 17th game of the season with a complete-game effort against Missouri State (28-24, 16-9 MVC). MSU led off the game with a home run and added another run in the first. From there, Bertelsen shut down the Bears' offense, only allowing three hits the rest of the way.

With the game tied at two in the third inning, senior Meredith Wilson blasted a three-run homer to right-center to give Bertelsen just enough room to get the win. With SIU leading 5-4 and the top of MSU's order up in the seventh, Bertelsen closed her 51st career complete game with a 1-2-3 inning.

Another senior, Kalyn Harker, came into the game with a league-leading .469 average against MVC teams this year, and she actually raised that to .471 with a 3-for-6 day. She has hit safely in 11-straight MVC games.

"I was struggling early in the year, and I worked with (associate head coach) Jen Sewell every day for two weeks," Harker said. "She finally got my footwork and my hands right when I was slapping, and that fixed it."

Sophomore Shaye Harre was a two-way star in game two. She pitched a complete game, only allowing Missouri State two runs. From the plate, she went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including the game-winning walk-off RBI single to secure the run-rule win in the bottom of the fifth.

After the doubleheader sweep, Southern's five seniors were honored in an on-field ceremony. Katie Bertelsen, Kalyn Harker, Kara Kimball, Meredith Wilson and Alyssa Wunderlich were honored, with the quintet a part of 110 wins so far in its Saluki career.

"This is like a family. It's sad and happy at the same time," Harker said. "You've played with these girls for four years, but at the same time you're moving on and getting big-girl jobs. We just want to focus and close the season strong."

The sweep made Sunday's series finale with Missouri State even more important. With a win on Sunday, Southern can secure itself a first-round bye in the MVC Tournament next week.

UP NEXT: SIU and Missouri State play a series finale at noon on Sunday, May 3. Southern Illinois will secure itself a first-round bye with a win. With a loss, SIU will be the No. 5 seed and play in the opening-round games.

NOTES: Southern Illinois has won 10-straight home games against Missouri State, dating back to 2007...Merri Anne Patterson increased her batting average against MVC teams to .400 this year...Kalyn Harker is hitting a league-best .471 in conference games and Katie Bertelsen has a league-best 13 MVC wins...Meredith Wilson and Kelsey Gonzalez each extended consecutive games reaching base streaks to 16 games, tying Sydney Jones for the longest streaks on the team this year...SIU has won seven of its last eight MVC games and eight of its last 10...SIU secured its fifth MVC series win of the eight three-game series it played this year...SIU has won at least 15 MVC games in 14 of 16 seasons with head coach Kerri Blaylock...SIU secured at least a fifth-place finish in the MVC, the 15th-straight season SIU has finished in the top half of the league...Southern improved to 10-4 at home this season, the 34th-consecutive season SIU has had a winning season at home.