Saturday, February 10
San Antonio, TX
9:00 a.m.
Southern Illinois University
2-1
5
vs
1
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
1-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
0
0
2
1
0
0
2
5
7
0
A&M-Corpus Christi
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
Salukis split second-straight doubleheader
02/10/2018 | 3:48:00 | Softball
Saluki softball split two games at the UTSA Softball Classic in San Antonio, Texas for the second-straight day today.
Southern (2-2) won the opening game of the day following a 5-1 win over Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (1-2) thanks to a few home runs and a dominant pitching performance. In the second game, Southern fell victim to dominant pitching when the Salukis were no-hit in a 9-0 loss to Abilene Christian (2-2).
"This was a tale of two games," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "In one game we played really, really well. In the other game we got it handed to us on all levels. Its early in the season and we're figuring some things out."
In the day's opening game, the Salukis opened the scoring in the top of the third inning when Sophomore Susie Baranski logged the Salukis first hit off a bloop-single to left-center. In the next at-bat, sophomore Maddy Vermejan crushed a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to put Southern up 2-0.
Baranski was 2-3 with a walk and a run scored in the first game of the day.
Southern scored again in the fourth when sophomore Kyleigh Decker tripled to right field with one out. Two batters later, senior shortstop Savannah Fisher hit an RBI single up the middle to score Decker from third and put the Salukis out front 3-0.
In the bottom of the same inning, the Islanders scored their lone run of the game. Senior pitcher Brianna Jones walked the leadoff hitter then allowed a single on the next batter to put runners on first and second. Two at-bats later, freshman Avery Ratcliff hit into a fielder's choice that allowed junior Kayla Sheridan to score from second and give the Islanders their only run.
In the top of the seventh, senior third baseman Sydney Jones hit a two-run home run to left field to put the Salukis up 5-1. It was Jones' second home run in as many games. She homered off of Texas – San Antonio last night.
Southern scored five runs on seven hits in the day's opening game. The Salukis scored 17 runs in their first three games of the season.
For as good as Southern's offense was in the day's first game, Brianna Jones was even better. Jones pitched her second-straight complete game allowing just 1 run on 1 hit and striking out 8 Islanders. She's struck out 17 batters in her first two wins of the season.
"Bri came out and had a really good game. She really settled us in," Blaylock said. "Our hitters adjusted after one time through the lineup and they did a really good job. We played very good defense. It was a very sound performance overall."
In Southern's second game, Abilene Christian's starter, senior pitcher Hannah Null was nearly perfect. She held the Salukis hitless and only allowed one base runner when she hit Vermejan with a pitch in the top of the fourth. The Wildcat hurler struck out seven Salukis in the five-inning game.
Senior Savanna Dover started for the Salukis and pitched two and two-thirds of an inning allowing 7 runs on four hits and two walks. Just four of the runs were counted as earned.
"Dover is throwing the ball into spots that it needs to be thrown. She will get better and better the more games she throws," Blaylock said. "She's as good a she's been in her four years here as far as number of pitches and how she throws. I have a lot of faith in her."
Freshman Megan Brown made her debut for the Salukis in relief and pitched one and a third innings. She allowed two runs on four hits. Blaylock said that she was happy with Brown's debut pitching performance and that she did what she was asked of by the coaching staff.
The no-hit loss came in Southern's fourth game in less than 24 hours. It was the first time that Southern had been no-hit since March of 2016 when UNI did so.
"At the Division I level, you have to be able to adjust. There are things you can't control, the weather, when you play if you can practice outside and if you can't. You have to learn to deal with those things," Blaylock said. "We're young. We're figuring things out and I feel like we have a really solid base. I think we have the opportunity to be really good."
Southern closes out the UTSA softball classic tomorrow when it faces off against Seton Hall at 9 a.m.
Southern (2-2) won the opening game of the day following a 5-1 win over Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (1-2) thanks to a few home runs and a dominant pitching performance. In the second game, Southern fell victim to dominant pitching when the Salukis were no-hit in a 9-0 loss to Abilene Christian (2-2).
"This was a tale of two games," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "In one game we played really, really well. In the other game we got it handed to us on all levels. Its early in the season and we're figuring some things out."
In the day's opening game, the Salukis opened the scoring in the top of the third inning when Sophomore Susie Baranski logged the Salukis first hit off a bloop-single to left-center. In the next at-bat, sophomore Maddy Vermejan crushed a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to put Southern up 2-0.
Baranski was 2-3 with a walk and a run scored in the first game of the day.
Southern scored again in the fourth when sophomore Kyleigh Decker tripled to right field with one out. Two batters later, senior shortstop Savannah Fisher hit an RBI single up the middle to score Decker from third and put the Salukis out front 3-0.
In the bottom of the same inning, the Islanders scored their lone run of the game. Senior pitcher Brianna Jones walked the leadoff hitter then allowed a single on the next batter to put runners on first and second. Two at-bats later, freshman Avery Ratcliff hit into a fielder's choice that allowed junior Kayla Sheridan to score from second and give the Islanders their only run.
In the top of the seventh, senior third baseman Sydney Jones hit a two-run home run to left field to put the Salukis up 5-1. It was Jones' second home run in as many games. She homered off of Texas – San Antonio last night.
Southern scored five runs on seven hits in the day's opening game. The Salukis scored 17 runs in their first three games of the season.
For as good as Southern's offense was in the day's first game, Brianna Jones was even better. Jones pitched her second-straight complete game allowing just 1 run on 1 hit and striking out 8 Islanders. She's struck out 17 batters in her first two wins of the season.
"Bri came out and had a really good game. She really settled us in," Blaylock said. "Our hitters adjusted after one time through the lineup and they did a really good job. We played very good defense. It was a very sound performance overall."
In Southern's second game, Abilene Christian's starter, senior pitcher Hannah Null was nearly perfect. She held the Salukis hitless and only allowed one base runner when she hit Vermejan with a pitch in the top of the fourth. The Wildcat hurler struck out seven Salukis in the five-inning game.
Senior Savanna Dover started for the Salukis and pitched two and two-thirds of an inning allowing 7 runs on four hits and two walks. Just four of the runs were counted as earned.
"Dover is throwing the ball into spots that it needs to be thrown. She will get better and better the more games she throws," Blaylock said. "She's as good a she's been in her four years here as far as number of pitches and how she throws. I have a lot of faith in her."
Freshman Megan Brown made her debut for the Salukis in relief and pitched one and a third innings. She allowed two runs on four hits. Blaylock said that she was happy with Brown's debut pitching performance and that she did what she was asked of by the coaching staff.
The no-hit loss came in Southern's fourth game in less than 24 hours. It was the first time that Southern had been no-hit since March of 2016 when UNI did so.
"At the Division I level, you have to be able to adjust. There are things you can't control, the weather, when you play if you can practice outside and if you can't. You have to learn to deal with those things," Blaylock said. "We're young. We're figuring things out and I feel like we have a really solid base. I think we have the opportunity to be really good."
Southern closes out the UTSA softball classic tomorrow when it faces off against Seton Hall at 9 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Brianna (2-0)
L: Ashley Smith (0-1)
Batting:
3B: Decker, Kyleigh 1
HR: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Jones, Sydney 1
RBI: Vermejan, Maddy 2 ; Jones, Sydney 2 ; Fisher, Savannah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Baranski, Susie 1 ; Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Jones, Sydney 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
SB: Fisher, Savannah 1
HBP: Vermejan, Maddy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whitney Wendel 1
SB: Avery Ratcliff 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
UT/P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC/INF
/ Softball
INF
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