Salukis close fall season Sunday with two games

Sunday, October 1

Carbondale, Ill.

2 P.M.

Southern Illinois University

University of Southern Indiana

09/29/2017 | 10:22:00 | Softball

Southern host Southern Indiana and SEMO

By: Tony McDaniel, SIUSalukis.com

Saluki softball's fall season comes to an end on Sunday when SEMO and Southern Indiana make the trip to Carbondale for a doubleheader. The Salukis (5-1) are coming off their second double header sweep of the season after wins over Missouri – St. Louis and Lake Land College.

"We just want to keep progressing. We felt like we improved a lot between week two and week three," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We shored up our defense and we want to keep that going. We also want to keep hitting in RBI situations. Getting a lot of at bats is very important to us. We'd love to feel good going into our strength and conditioning phase."

Southern has been led by its pitching and returning players so far in fall ball. The Salukis will look to them once more as the team will play to secure two more wins against stout competition.

In the opening game of the doubleheader, Southern will face the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana. Last year, USI posted a 46-14 record and reached the NCAA Division II softball championship before losing back-to-back games to Minnesota State – Mankato and West Florida. The Screaming Eagles are returning three of their five leading hitters from last year in Marleah Fossett, Olivia Clark-Kittleson and Mena Fulton. All three hit over .300 while Fossett hit .412 with 14 doubles, five home runs and 32 RBI.

USI also returns their ace from 2017, Jennifer Leonhardt. Leonhardt went 29-4 with a 1.67 ERA and 191 strikeouts.

In the second game, Southern will face familiar foes in regional rivals SEMO. The Salukis beat SEMO in a mid-week game in Cape Girardeau, Mo., 3-1 last season. In that game, current senior Savannah Fisher and current junior Eyrika Brandenburg went 2-3 with an RBI and current sophomore Susie Baranski went 3-4 in the leadoff spot. Current junior, Brianna Jones logged the save while striking out two in an inning of work.

Offensively, SEMO is returning the entire core of their team including four players who hit over .300 in 2017. Rachel Anderson is back for the Redhawks after a stellar freshman campaign where she hit .412 with seven home runs, 33 RBI and 12 steals. SEMO's top pitcher also returns in Madeline Krumrey. Krumrey logged 14 wins with a 2.38 ERA.

Sunday's afternoon packed full of collegiate softball kicks off from Charlotte West Stadium at noon when Southern Indiana plays SEMO. The Salukis play their first game at 2 p.m. against USI before closing the fall season against SEMO at 4 p.m.

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.