SIU takes two from Loyola in MVC-opening doubleheader

Saturday, March 19

Carbondale, Ill.

3:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

16-8, 0

Loyola

15-9, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Loyola	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Southern Illinois	4	1	0	0	0	0	X	5	9	0

03/19/2016 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

March 19, 2016

By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com

G1 Box | G2 Box

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Saluki Softball team started Missouri Valley Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Loyola on Saturday afternoon. Jessica Heese hit a walk-off home run in the eighth inning of the opener (W, 4-3), and Savanna Dover threw a complete-game shutout in the nightcap (W, 5-0).

SIU (16-8, 2-0 MVC) has won eight of its last nine games, pushing the program eight games over .500 for the first time in four seasons, so perhaps it's no surprise when both Dover and Heese independently brought up the same word about their mentality going into the day.

"I felt really confident," Dover said. "I needed to go out there and just trust myself."

"It's all about confidence. Get in there, stay calm and hit the ball," Heese said.

The wins weren't easy. Loyola (15-9, 0-2 MVC) entered the day with confidence of its own. The Ramblers entered with the second-best win percentage in the conference, the top batting average in the MVC and the second-best ERA in the league.

The Ramblers were hitting .327 as a team headed into the game, but game one starter Brianna Jones and Dover held them to a .237 average in the doubleheader (14-for-59). Jones (12-3) allowed nine hits for the first time in her career, but she threw up a zero when the game went to extra innings to set the stage for Heese's homer

"The offense really stepped up in the first game," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "Bri threw a really good game, but the offense really stepped up when we needed it. Walking off--that's why you love being at home. You know you have last bats."

The Saluki offense kept that momentum rolling right into game two. SIU collected four runs on six hits in the first inning alone--more than enough for Dover, who threw her second shutout of the season (the team's ninth) and struck out six.

After a four-game stretch with an ERA of 9.86, Dover (3-5) her third-straight quality start. After her second no decision last weekend, Blaylock joked that maybe the offense would score a bunch of runs in her next start to get her a win, which proved prophetic.

"This keeps us rolling," Blaylock said. "(Dover) had two solid games before this. She started the season really well. She had one little stretch--one tournament was all it was--and now she's back throwing."

Since her rough stretch, Dover has an 0.81 ERA in her last three starts (17.1 innings), matching up with Southern's stretch of eight wins in nine games. In that stretch, Southern's pitching has a 1.07 ERA while the offense is outscoring opponents 49-9.

SIU goes for the series sweep against Loyola on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.