Saturday, May 20
Chapel Hill, NC
4:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
33-24
0
vs
4
North Carolina
39-20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
North Carolina
0
0
2
0
2
0
X
4
9
0
Photo by: Will Becque
Salukis bow out of NCAA Tournament
05/20/2017 | 9:07:00 | Softball
SIU falls 4-0 to North Carolina in Saturday's first elimination game.
OXFORD, Miss. - The Southern Illinois softball team saw its season come to an end Saturday evening with a 4-0 loss to North Carolina.
The Salukis conclude the year with a 33-24 record. North Carolina improved to 39-20 and advances to face Arizona State with the winner moving on to face Ole Miss in Sunday's championship game.
"We had a phenomenal run and I thought we played really well today," SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We just couldn't get anything going offensively. I was really proud of our pitchers keeping it close with how (UNC) hits the ball."
UNC took an early lead in the third inning off starter Savannah Dover, as the Tar Heels manufactured a pair of runs on four hits and took advantage of an error by Southern.
The Salukis had a chance to get a run back in top half of the fourth, as Sydney Jones crushed a one-out double to the gap in left center. UNC starting pitcher Brittany Pickett pitched her way out of the jam though, as she sat the next two SIU hitters down on four pitches.
The Tar Heels added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth on three singles and a walk.
Dover took the loss in the circle, as she threw four innings, scattered eight hits and gave up four runs. Nicole Doyle, who came on in relief of Dover in the fifth, threw two innings and gave up one hit while striking out one.
Jones led the way at the plate, as she went 2-for-3 with a double.Â
The loss to UNC saw the careers of Merri Anne Patterson, Shaye Harre and Jessa Thomas come to an end. The trio helped Southern win its first MVC Tournament championship since 1991, while Harre leaves Southern as its all-time leader in RBIs and doubles.
"For me, I don't go to the locker room for the next two months," Blaylock said. "I have to grieve a while. And then I go back at it. These seniors gave me something I thought would never happen: a conference tournament championship. It eluded us for so long. Our seniors have been great leaders and they've been everything we've asked for and done everything we asked them to do."
SIU will return 10 position players and all three pitchers in 2018.
The Salukis conclude the year with a 33-24 record. North Carolina improved to 39-20 and advances to face Arizona State with the winner moving on to face Ole Miss in Sunday's championship game.
"We had a phenomenal run and I thought we played really well today," SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We just couldn't get anything going offensively. I was really proud of our pitchers keeping it close with how (UNC) hits the ball."
UNC took an early lead in the third inning off starter Savannah Dover, as the Tar Heels manufactured a pair of runs on four hits and took advantage of an error by Southern.
The Salukis had a chance to get a run back in top half of the fourth, as Sydney Jones crushed a one-out double to the gap in left center. UNC starting pitcher Brittany Pickett pitched her way out of the jam though, as she sat the next two SIU hitters down on four pitches.
The Tar Heels added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth on three singles and a walk.
Dover took the loss in the circle, as she threw four innings, scattered eight hits and gave up four runs. Nicole Doyle, who came on in relief of Dover in the fifth, threw two innings and gave up one hit while striking out one.
Jones led the way at the plate, as she went 2-for-3 with a double.Â
The loss to UNC saw the careers of Merri Anne Patterson, Shaye Harre and Jessa Thomas come to an end. The trio helped Southern win its first MVC Tournament championship since 1991, while Harre leaves Southern as its all-time leader in RBIs and doubles.
"For me, I don't go to the locker room for the next two months," Blaylock said. "I have to grieve a while. And then I go back at it. These seniors gave me something I thought would never happen: a conference tournament championship. It eluded us for so long. Our seniors have been great leaders and they've been everything we've asked for and done everything we asked them to do."
SIU will return 10 position players and all three pitchers in 2018.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pickett,B (22-9)
L: Dover, Savanna (7-4)
Batting:
2B: Jones, Sydney 1
SH: Vermejan, Maddy 1
Batting:
RBI: Delamora,B 2 ; Bailiff,K 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Murray,L 1 ; Wike,T 1 ; Abbatine,M 1 ; Rushing,L 1
SB: Murray,L 1 ; DeBerry,D 1
CS: Murray,L 1
HBP: Lynch,K 1
PO: DeBerry,D 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P/INF
/ SoftballC/INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
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