Fall ball continues Saturday with doubleheader at home

Saturday, September 16

Carbondale, Ill.

12 P.M.

Southern Illinois University

Saint Louis

09/15/2017 | 8:26:00 | Softball

Salukis look to remain unbeaten in Fall

By: Tony McDaniel, SIUSalukis.com

The Saluki softball team's fall ball season continues on Saturday with a doubleheader against Saint Louis and Murray State at Charlotte West Stadium.

The Salukis (2-0) are coming off a doubleheader when the team combined for 17 runs through two five inning games. Southern took down Rend Lake College 8-0 and John A. Logan College 9-0 behind dominant pitching performances from Savannah Dover and Brianna Jones and offensive explosions in the opening innings of each game.

"I was extremely pleased that we played aggressively and jumped out to big leads in both games, which we should have done," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "It was huge that we were able to play everybody. Because of the way the games turned out we got looks at all of our kids. I was very impressed with some of our veterans. Our pitching and defense was very good and we were able to get all of our newcomers playing time which was phenomenal."

This weekend, the Salukis will welcome two Division I programs that are both playing in their first games of the fall season.

In the opener, the Salukis face Saint Louis and their eighth-year head coach, Christy Connoyer. Connoyer's team won 25 games in 2017 and are returning nine players from that team including their number one pitcher, Maddie Baalman who posted a 2.83 ERA with four shutouts in 34 appearances last season.

The Billikens lost their top hitter from 2017, but are bringing back Allie Macfarlane who was not far off that standard. She started all 50 games in 2017 hitting .354 with eight home runs and a team-leading 50 RBI.

"Traditionally, SLU does a really good job at base running. They try to take the extra base and run quite a bit to try to force the issue," Blaylock said. "They lost a couple of key hitters, but it will be interesting to see about their freshmen."

Murray State was a team in 2017 that put together 36 wins on the way to the National Invitational Softball Championship. The Racers downed three teams from power-five conferences including Indiana and Memphis. The Racers beat Michigan State in the opening game of the NISC as well. When Southern and Murray faced off on March 5, it was the Racers that squeaked out an 8-7 victory in Carbondale by holding off the Salukis who scored seven unanswered runs.

This year, sixth-year head coach, Kara Amundson, returns eight upper-classmen including senior infielder Brenna Finck who hit .380 with 20 RBI and 3 homeruns in 2017 while stealing 10 bases. Murray lost their number one pitcher from 2017 to graduation, but their remaining two pitchers are both back with another year of experience under their belt.

Southern's second doubleheader of the fall starts Saturday at noon against Saint Louis. The second game against Murray State is schedule for 2 p.m. The day of action will close out with Murray facing off against Saint Louis. That game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. Admission is free to all children 12 and under.

For all of the updates with Saluki softball, be sure to follow the team on Twitter and Instagram @SIU_Softball and on Facebook at Saluki Softball.