Southern splits two on opening day at Stetson Invitational

Friday, February 26

DeLand, Fla.

11:15 AM

Southern Illinois University

5-4

Pittsburgh

8-4

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

02/26/2016 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Feb. 26, 2016

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

G1 Box | G2 Box

DeLAND, Fla. - The Southern Illinois softball team split two games at the Stetson Invitational on Friday, falling 8-0 to Pittsburgh before winning a 10-0 game against Providence. Brianna Jones threw her nation-leading fourth shutout of the season in the win over the Friars.

Pittsburgh (8-4), an NCAA Tournament regional finalist last year, was one of the toughest opponents SIU (6-4) has faced this year. The Panthers scored eight runs against Southern--already the sixth time this season Pitt has scored eight or more runs--despite not recording a single extra base hit. SIU walked nine and hit two batters in the five-inning loss. Offensively, SIU had runners every inning but hit just 1-for-9 with runners on base.

"We weren't ready to play and it showed," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "It shouldn't have gotten away from us like it did. We didn't throw great, and we didn't help ourselves at all offensively to keep us close."

Southern Illinois' offense immediately woke up vs. Providence. The first three hitters of the game reached to load the bases for Shaye Harre, who scored two of them on a double, and the Salukis had two runs before recording an out. After going 1-for-9 with runners on in the first game, the Salukis went 7-for-12 against the Friars.

"It was a polar opposite, energy-wise," Blaylock said. "We are a little inconsistent right now. If we can be more consistent, we can play with anybody."

Brianna Jones (4-2) was dominant again in the circle. She limited Providence (3-3) to just two singles while striking out four; she needed just 65 pitches to get through the five-inning shutout; and she now has four shutouts in 2016, which leads the nation.

"She's been pretty consistent," Blaylock said of Jones. "Another game, another good job."

Southern's offense was just as dominant as Jones. SIU hit 9-for-20 with two doubles and two home runs. All nine hitters in the order reached base, seven recorded hits and seven scored a run. The top five in the order combined to go 6-for-11 with two doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs and eight runs scored.

"We feel really good about that," Blaylock said. "We need the middle of the order to show up, and they showed up in the second game."

SIU wraps up the Stetson Invitational with two more games tomorrow. SIU faces Colgate in the first game at 11:15 a.m. CT and finishes against tournament host Stetson at approximately 5:30 p.m. CT. For schedule, score and statistical updates, follow the program on Twitter @SIU_Softball.

NOTES: Eyrika Brandenburg went 3-for-5 on the day and extended her hitting streak to six games...Brandenburg has hit 8-for-16 since moving to the leadoff spot in the order...SIU won its third run-rule game of the year...Pittsburgh's eight runs were the most allowed by SIU this season...Through 10 games, SIU has eight players hitting .300 or better (Brandenburg, Harre, Porter, Jones, Heese, Thomas, Cook, Gonzalez)...Harre recorded her third multi-RBI game of the season (no one else on the team has more than one)...Harre has reached in all 10 games this season...Sydney Jones and Brandenburg both had multi-hit games vs. Providence. They lead the team with four multi-hit games this year...SIU has six non-conference wins this year, already matching last year's total.