Softball to hold annual Black Out Cancer Game

On Saturday Southern Illinois University will be holding their annual "Black Out Cancer" game at Charlotte West Stadium. A black Saluki jersey has been signed by everyone on Southern's team and will be auctioned off after the first few innings of game one. Along with the jersey, former head coach Kay Brechtelsbauer will be in attendance and throw out the first pitch of the game. Coach B was SIU's skipper for 32 years and won 633 games for the maroon and white.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (23-21) vs. WICHITA STATE (27-15)

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Game Notes | SIU

CARBONDALE, ILL. - The softball team is finally home this weekend, after playing their last 12 games on the road. The Salukis will play a three game series with the Wichita State Shockers, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday.

QUICK HITTERS
- Game one of the series is SIU's black out cancer game.
- SIU (10-7) is currently tied for fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference and WSU (12-5) is in third place.
- Last season when these two teams met up they split two games in Wichita, Kansas.
- The Salukis lead the all time series with the Shockers, 56-27.

WEEK RECAP
The Salukis took on the Evansville Purple Aces on Wednesday afternoon, winning one of the two games. The doubleheader featured two completely different games, the first was a 1-0 walk off by UE and the second was an SIU offensive showcase. In the game SIU won, the Dawgs scored ten runs on Evansville and plated at least one run in the first four innings. The offense was capped off on a three run home run by senior Merri Anne Patterson, her fifth of the season. The win against the Aces was the team's tenth victory in conference play. SIU has beaten every valley team they have faced this season at least once.

GOING DOWN IN THE HISTORY BOOKS
Shaye Harre recently grabbed another Saluki record during Wednesday's doubleheader. Harre now is SIU's single season record holder for walks. The Saluki senior has drawn 46 base on balls this season, breaking Mallory Duran-Sellers and Katie Jordan's record of 45. This is the second consecutive time that Harre has cracked the top ten in walks and the second time she has drawn more than forty walks in a season.

Harre has also climbed up higher in a few career categories. After Wednesday, Harre is now only one more double away from tying SIU's all-time record for doubles in a career, and two away from tying the single season record. Not only that, but she is also four RBIs shy of tying Southern's all-time record of 147, held by Jayna Spivey (2011-14).

Head coach Kerri Blaylock is approaching a record of her own. Blaylock is only 17 wins away from becoming SIU's all-time wins leader. Coach B currently holds the record at 633. This season Blaylock eclipsed the 600 win mark back in February and currently has 618.

SCOUTING THE SHOCKERS
Wichita State enters the weekend series with the third best record in the Missouri Valley Conference. This Shockers are coming off a 1-1 series with Missouri State. WSU lost to the Bears in game one, 4-0, and they came back in game two, winning 4-0. Wichita is led by their hitting. On the team they currently have seven players batting over .300, and one player that has a .299 average. They have outscored their opponents this season 228 to 152, while racking up 361 hits in the process.

The first game Saturday is scheduled for 12 p.m. Game two of the doubleheader will start approximately 25 minutes after the conclusion of game one.

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Shaye Harre

Merri Anne Patterson

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