Friday, May 19
Oxford, Miss
8:30 PM
Southern Illinois University
33-23
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Mississippi
41-18
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Southern Illinois
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Ole Miss
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Photo by: Will Becque
SIU falls to No. 13 Ole Miss in opening game of NCAA Tournament
05/20/2017 | 1:41:00 | Softball
OXFORD, MISS. - The Southern Illinois University softball team (33-23) lost their first game of the 2017 NCAA tournament, 8-0 in five innings, to No. 13 University of Mississippi. SIU will now play through the elimination bracket the rest of the regional. They will face the University of North Carolina tomorrow at 4 p.m.
Tonight's game started one hour behind schedule and didn't finish until 11:30 p.m., easily being the latest game the Salukis have played all season. The game got off to a good start for SIU, getting a single from Eyrika Brandenburg in the top of the first inning. Brandenburg finished the night 2-3 with two singles, which was a team high. After the single the Salukis went cold, leaving their first Saluki on the base paths.
In the bottom half of the first we saw a solid Brianna Jones, who got the start for SIU. Jones set down the Rebels in order and picked up her first strikeout of the game.Â
The second inning was identical to the first inning, this time it was freshman Maddy Vermejan singling into right center field and being left on base. Vermejan went 1-2 in the game.
Ole Miss blew the game open in the bottom of the second, plating five runs on four hits. Thing started with a walk out walk to the number five hitter. The Rebels then doubled down the left field line to put runners at second and third with only one out. Ole Miss then turned to some small ball, laying down a sacrifice squeeze to score the first run of the game and the second out of the inning. Following the bunt, three of the next four batters got a base hit, the last batter clearing the bases with a triple. After everything was said and done, Ole Miss held a 5-0 lead.
SIU tried to regain some momentum in the top half of the third, getting their bats going. Susie Baranski and Brandenburg both singled to put runners at the corners with only one out. But, like the first few innings, the bats cooled off and Southern stranded their runners. SIU finished the game leaving five base runners on base.Â
Both teams remained quiet offensively until the bottom of the fifth. Ole Miss broke through with a bunt single from their lead off hitter. Jones had retired seven straight prior to the single. After the bunt single the Rebels hit an inside the park home run, a double, and a single to close out the game. It was the first time the Salukis had been shut out since the 1-0 loss to Evansville over a month ago.Â
"I was really proud of our kids," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "The moment wasn't too big them. When you look at three runs scored it was bunt, a ball they hits the chalk line, and that's just how things started. Our kids were right with it and Bri threw fantastic."
The Salukis face elimination tomorrow, a loss will send them home and end their season. If the Southern wins the game they will turn around and play the loser of No. 13 Ole Miss and No.22 Arizona State.
Tonight's game started one hour behind schedule and didn't finish until 11:30 p.m., easily being the latest game the Salukis have played all season. The game got off to a good start for SIU, getting a single from Eyrika Brandenburg in the top of the first inning. Brandenburg finished the night 2-3 with two singles, which was a team high. After the single the Salukis went cold, leaving their first Saluki on the base paths.
In the bottom half of the first we saw a solid Brianna Jones, who got the start for SIU. Jones set down the Rebels in order and picked up her first strikeout of the game.Â
The second inning was identical to the first inning, this time it was freshman Maddy Vermejan singling into right center field and being left on base. Vermejan went 1-2 in the game.
Ole Miss blew the game open in the bottom of the second, plating five runs on four hits. Thing started with a walk out walk to the number five hitter. The Rebels then doubled down the left field line to put runners at second and third with only one out. Ole Miss then turned to some small ball, laying down a sacrifice squeeze to score the first run of the game and the second out of the inning. Following the bunt, three of the next four batters got a base hit, the last batter clearing the bases with a triple. After everything was said and done, Ole Miss held a 5-0 lead.
SIU tried to regain some momentum in the top half of the third, getting their bats going. Susie Baranski and Brandenburg both singled to put runners at the corners with only one out. But, like the first few innings, the bats cooled off and Southern stranded their runners. SIU finished the game leaving five base runners on base.Â
Both teams remained quiet offensively until the bottom of the fifth. Ole Miss broke through with a bunt single from their lead off hitter. Jones had retired seven straight prior to the single. After the bunt single the Rebels hit an inside the park home run, a double, and a single to close out the game. It was the first time the Salukis had been shut out since the 1-0 loss to Evansville over a month ago.Â
"I was really proud of our kids," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "The moment wasn't too big them. When you look at three runs scored it was bunt, a ball they hits the chalk line, and that's just how things started. Our kids were right with it and Bri threw fantastic."
The Salukis face elimination tomorrow, a loss will send them home and end their season. If the Southern wins the game they will turn around and play the loser of No. 13 Ole Miss and No.22 Arizona State.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kaitlin Lee (21-10)
L: Jones, Brianna (18-13)
Batting:
2B: Ashton Lampton 1 ; Kaylee Horton 1
3B: Kylan Becker 1
HR: Kylan Becker 1
RBI: Kylan Becker 5 ; Miranda Strother 1 ; Courtney Syrett 1 ; Paige McKinney 1
SH: Dylinn Stancil 1 ; Courtney Syrett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elantra Cox 2 ; Kylan Becker 1 ; Bry Castro 1 ; Miranda Strother 1 ; Kaylee Horton 1 ; Paige McKinney 1 ; Dakota Matiko 1
SB: Paige McKinney 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
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
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