Pitching, defense lead Salukis to split on final day at FGCU

Calendar

Sep 21

1 PM

Softball

Jefferson College

Sep 27

1 PM

Softball

St. Charles CC

Oct 5

1 PM

Softball

Parkland College

Oct 5

3 PM

Softball

Illinois Central College

On the final day of the FGCU/Four Points by Sheraton Invitational, the Salukis split with Stony Brook and the host, Florida Gulf Coast.

Southern eased past the Seawolves in the first game and were on the wrong side of a tough luck loss in the second to FGCU. Southern's pitching and defense was solid in both games.

"We played extremely hard today and we played extremely well. We lost a starter due to illness and just had other people step up and come in and play," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "I thought we had two extremely good pitching performances. Savanna Dover threw the best game of her early senior year. The game against FGCU could have gone either way."

The Salukis were without one of their senior captains for the day. Savannah Fisher sat out both games dealing with an illness. The absence forced Blaylock to shuffle her lineup. Freshman Jenny Jansen made her first two starts of the year at short stop and freshmen Maris Boelens and Megan Brown started in right and center field.

"Jansen is a trained short stop, so she takes reps with Fish all the time. When Fish got sick, it was natural for her to step in," Blaylock said. "Megan did a good job coming in at left and Maris did well in center."

In the first game of the day, The Salukis jumped out early with two runs in the top of the first. Sophomore Susie Baranski singled to open the game. Two batters later, Katelyn Massa hit a double to center that scored Baranski. Later in the inning, senior Sydney Jones singled to score Massa from third.

Southern put up another two spot in the second when Massa doubled again to score Baranski and freshman Maris Boelens to put SIU up 4-0.

In the bottom of the third inning, Stony Brook scored its first run of the game when sophomore pitcher Melissa Rahrich singled to right field to make the score 4-1 in favor of Southern Illinois.

In the top of the fifth, freshman Megan Brown singled into leftfield to score Sydney Jones from third. It was Brown's first career RBI.

In the sixth inning, Katleyn Massa hit her third and final RBI double of the game to score Susie Baranski. Massa went 3-3 in the game with 4 RBI and a walk. Her RBI double made the score 6-1.

Massa is now hitting .361 on the season with a total of 16 RBI. She has 10 more RBI than the next-closest Saluki.

"She was a bit upset with herself yesterday. She didn't feel like she had a great day. She came out today and did very, very well," Blaylock said.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Seawolves mounted a slight comeback against starting pitcher junior Brianna Jones. Stony Brook scored on a two-out single to leftfield from sophomore center fielder Jourdin Hering to make the score 6-2.

With the win, the Salukis improved to 5-0 in games in which they score first.

Jones shut down the Seawolves after allowing the RBI to earn her sixth win of the season. She is now 6-0 this year. She allowed 5 hits, 2 earned runs and a walk while striking out 4.

The final game of the tournament for Southern was a pitcher's duel. Senior Savanna Dover got the start and faced off against junior Riley Randolph, the 2016 Atlantic Sun Freshman and Pitcher of the Year.

Southern's best chance to score in the game came in the top of the first when Vermejan and Massa linked up for back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Both failed to score.

Dover was sensational against the Eagles. She didn't allow a hit until the bottom of the fourth inning. She held Florida Gulf Coast run less until the bottom of the sixth when the team strung three-straight infield hits together to load the bases with no outs. The Salukis recorded one out, but junior Eagle Brooke Clemens hit into a fielder's choice that scored the lead runner from third. It would be the winning run. Dover kept damage minimal and allowed just one run in the bases-loaded-no-out jam.

Dover's work gave the Salukis a chance to equalize in the top of the seventh, but the team failed to do so.

"It was another tight ball game. Another 1-0 game," Blaylock said. "These are the types of games that I think we're going to win in a few weeks."

Overall, Dover and Randolph allowed a total of six hits in the game. Dover allowed a run off of 4 hits and recorded a walk and a strikeout.

Southern took three out of four games this weekend and improved to 7-5 on the season. Florida Gulf Coast's win moved the team to 12-0 on the season.

"You always wish you can win those close games, but I think we're going to learn from this. Every week you say can you get better at certain things. We took another step. We were 3-1," Blaylock said. "You look out there tonight and at one point we had four freshmen and four sophomores playing. Those are good things."

Next weekend the Salukis return to Charlotte West Stadium where they host the annual Coach B Classic.

"We're really excited to go home and play at home," Blaylock said. "We can't wait to get home, get settled and go to work."

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Team Stats

Susie Baranski

Katelyn Massa

Sydney Jones

Kyleigh Decker

Players Mentioned

Susie Baranski

Maris Boelens

Megan Brown

Savanna Dover

Savannah Fisher

Jenny Jansen

Brianna Jones

Sydney Jones

Katelyn Massa

Players Mentioned

Susie Baranski

Maris Boelens

Megan Brown

Savanna Dover

Savannah Fisher

Jenny Jansen

Brianna Jones

Sydney Jones

Katelyn Massa

Scoreboard

Upcoming Events