Sunday, March 5
Carbondale, Ill.
1 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
9-9
3
vs
9
Northern Illinois University
8-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
3
6
0
Northern Illinois
1
0
3
3
2
0
X
9
8
1
Salukis show fight in final day of Coach B Classic
03/05/2017 | 10:36:00 | Softball
CARBONDALE, ILL. - The softball program wrapped up their annual Coach B Classic with two losses on the final day. Southern Illinois University first lost to Northern Illinois, 9-3, and then lost, 8-7, in a heart breaker to Murray State.
Southern's game against NIU started off promising for the Salukis, getting two runs in the first inning off a double by Shaye Harre. Harre's double brought home Eyrika Brandenburg and Susie Baranski, both reaching base on singles. After Harre's double, SIU's offense went cold, getting only four more hits the rest of the game. Two of the four belonged to Harre, who doubled two more times, giving her a total of three doubles in the game. Her two-bagger performance is now the single game record for doubles in Saluki history. Harre also moved into fourth place (40) all-time in doubles.
Northern responded quickly to SIU's offense in the bottom of the first, hitting a homer to make it a one run game. The home run sparked the Huskies' offense, as they later only scored three in the third and fourth, and two in the fifth. In those innings NIU hit three more home runs, accounting for five of the eight runs. After the fifth the score was 9-3 and that is where it stayed till the end. SIU's pitching staff gave up eight hits and walked six in the game.
"We didn't play well," SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock said. " I challenged them between games to show me some effort and some fight. I think that we're talented enough that if that happens, and we can put it together, we can have good things."
Game No. 2 for the Salukis against Murray State started off very poorly. In the top half of the first inning, the Racers put an eight spot on the board, recording seven hits. MSU batted around and some players even had two hits in the inning.Â
Despite the bad start, the Salukis went to plate in the bottom half as if nothing had happened. SIU started with back to back singles from Brandenburg and Baranski, just like in their game against NIU. Following the two lead off singles were two more by seniors, Harre and Merri Anne Patterson, making the score 8-2. Â
"We talked in the locker room right before the game," Blaylock said. "I don't care if you're down two nothing or eight nothing, you have to learn to fight. Then, the universe throws it at us. I thought we did a good job responding."
After the first inning the momentum went 180 degrees in favor of SIU. Brianna Jones, who gave up six earned runs in the first inning, began to dominate MSU at the plate. Jones started hitting her spots and only gave up four more hits the rest of the seven inning game.Â
"Brianna ended up throwing six zeros," Blaylock said. "She's been pegged all year with dinkers and dumpers, people miss hitting the ball, getting base hits. But, she's not a kid that gets rattled. She settled in and did what I asked her to do."
Once Jones began putting Racers away on defense, the bats picked up on offense. SIU began with two runs in the third and fifth inning, to cut Murray State's lead down to only two. Freshman, Katelyn Massa, brought in the first two for SIU, singling up the middle to score Sydney Jones and Baranski, who both picked up hits to get on. The two scored in the fifth inning came from the bat of Harre, who hit a towering home run down the right field line. The homer was Harre's first in 2017, and the 23rd of her career, moving her into sixth all-time for the maroon and white.Â
"I thought our offense did a great job of settling in and chipping away," Blaylock said. "They are a really good team. They are as good of a team as we are going to play. I thought the team did a great job."
Down two going into the bottom of the sixth, the Salukis still had some hits left. The inning started with a Maddy Vermejan walk, followed by two quick outs. With two outs and Vermejan now at third, Brandenburg stepped into the batters box. She worked the count full and then drove a ball to the wall, scoring Vermejan easily and making it a one run game.
In the seventh inning Jones still showed her dominance on the mound, going three up and three down, leaving the fate of the game in the Saluki offense. Murray State started the bottom half by picking up two crucial outs, leaving SIU down to their final out. Patterson saw one pitched before she roped one into the right center gap for a double, giving the Salukis life. The following batter was Massa who drew a walk, putting the game winning run at first base. Next to plate was Vermejan. She worked the count to, 1-1, and then drilled a liner right at the left fielder, ending the game. The Salukis finished the game by scoring seven unanswered runs and shutting out their opponent.
Southern will take to the field this upcoming weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, for a tournament hosted by UNLV. Their first game is against the host team and is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. (CT) on Friday.
Southern's game against NIU started off promising for the Salukis, getting two runs in the first inning off a double by Shaye Harre. Harre's double brought home Eyrika Brandenburg and Susie Baranski, both reaching base on singles. After Harre's double, SIU's offense went cold, getting only four more hits the rest of the game. Two of the four belonged to Harre, who doubled two more times, giving her a total of three doubles in the game. Her two-bagger performance is now the single game record for doubles in Saluki history. Harre also moved into fourth place (40) all-time in doubles.
Northern responded quickly to SIU's offense in the bottom of the first, hitting a homer to make it a one run game. The home run sparked the Huskies' offense, as they later only scored three in the third and fourth, and two in the fifth. In those innings NIU hit three more home runs, accounting for five of the eight runs. After the fifth the score was 9-3 and that is where it stayed till the end. SIU's pitching staff gave up eight hits and walked six in the game.
"We didn't play well," SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock said. " I challenged them between games to show me some effort and some fight. I think that we're talented enough that if that happens, and we can put it together, we can have good things."
Game No. 2 for the Salukis against Murray State started off very poorly. In the top half of the first inning, the Racers put an eight spot on the board, recording seven hits. MSU batted around and some players even had two hits in the inning.Â
Despite the bad start, the Salukis went to plate in the bottom half as if nothing had happened. SIU started with back to back singles from Brandenburg and Baranski, just like in their game against NIU. Following the two lead off singles were two more by seniors, Harre and Merri Anne Patterson, making the score 8-2. Â
"We talked in the locker room right before the game," Blaylock said. "I don't care if you're down two nothing or eight nothing, you have to learn to fight. Then, the universe throws it at us. I thought we did a good job responding."
After the first inning the momentum went 180 degrees in favor of SIU. Brianna Jones, who gave up six earned runs in the first inning, began to dominate MSU at the plate. Jones started hitting her spots and only gave up four more hits the rest of the seven inning game.Â
"Brianna ended up throwing six zeros," Blaylock said. "She's been pegged all year with dinkers and dumpers, people miss hitting the ball, getting base hits. But, she's not a kid that gets rattled. She settled in and did what I asked her to do."
Once Jones began putting Racers away on defense, the bats picked up on offense. SIU began with two runs in the third and fifth inning, to cut Murray State's lead down to only two. Freshman, Katelyn Massa, brought in the first two for SIU, singling up the middle to score Sydney Jones and Baranski, who both picked up hits to get on. The two scored in the fifth inning came from the bat of Harre, who hit a towering home run down the right field line. The homer was Harre's first in 2017, and the 23rd of her career, moving her into sixth all-time for the maroon and white.Â
"I thought our offense did a great job of settling in and chipping away," Blaylock said. "They are a really good team. They are as good of a team as we are going to play. I thought the team did a great job."
Down two going into the bottom of the sixth, the Salukis still had some hits left. The inning started with a Maddy Vermejan walk, followed by two quick outs. With two outs and Vermejan now at third, Brandenburg stepped into the batters box. She worked the count full and then drove a ball to the wall, scoring Vermejan easily and making it a one run game.
In the seventh inning Jones still showed her dominance on the mound, going three up and three down, leaving the fate of the game in the Saluki offense. Murray State started the bottom half by picking up two crucial outs, leaving SIU down to their final out. Patterson saw one pitched before she roped one into the right center gap for a double, giving the Salukis life. The following batter was Massa who drew a walk, putting the game winning run at first base. Next to plate was Vermejan. She worked the count to, 1-1, and then drilled a liner right at the left fielder, ending the game. The Salukis finished the game by scoring seven unanswered runs and shutting out their opponent.
Southern will take to the field this upcoming weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, for a tournament hosted by UNLV. Their first game is against the host team and is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. (CT) on Friday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: FRENZ, Alex (5-1)
L: Doyle, Nicole (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Harre, Shaye 3
RBI: Harre, Shaye 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Brandenburg, Eyrika 1 ; Baranski, Susie 2
Batting:
2B: VAN GEERTRY, Jenny 1
3B: HOWLETT, Abby 1
HR: KOSSAKOWSKI, Kali 1 ; HARNISH, Bekah 1 ; SCHMIDT, Sam 1 ; VAN GEERTRY, Jenny 1
RBI: KOSSAKOWSKI, Kali 1 ; HARNISH, Bekah 1 ; HOWLETT, Abby 1 ; SCHMIDT, Sam 2 ; VAN GEERTRY, Jenny 4
Base Running:
RUNS: KOSSAKOWSKI, Kali 1 ; HARNISH, Bekah 1 ; GRABLE, Kayti 1 ; HOWLETT, Abby 1 ; SCHMIDT, Sam 1 ; RIO, Jessica 1 ; WOOLLARD, Alaynie 2 ; VAN GEERTRY, Jenny 1
SB: WOOLLARD, Alaynie 1
CS: RIO, Jessica 1
HBP: RIO, Jessica 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
3
RBI
3
dp/lf
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
rf/dp
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballP/INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/INF
/ SoftballC/DP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
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