Friday, February 9
San Antonio, TX
4:30 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
1-0
8
vs
5
Abilene Christian University
0-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Abilene Christian
1
0
0
0
4
0
0
5
6
0
Southern Illinois
2
6
0
0
0
0
X
8
9
2
Softball splits season-opening doubleheader
02/09/2018 | 11:05:00 | Softball
Saluki softball split an opening day doubleheader in San Antonio, Texas at the UTSA Softball Classic in a day where unearned runs and home runs were the story.
Southern exploded offensively to defeat Abilene Christian 8-5 in the season opener, but fell to Texas – San Antonio in the Roadrunners' home opener 6-4. Southern saw both pitchers throw complete games and got boosts from seniors and sophomores offensively.
"Today we had two good pitching performances and we hit the ball extremely well. As well as I've seen some of my teams hit in I don't know how long," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "The difference in the games were six unearned runs. We understand that. Those are things that we will clean up once we start practicing outside."
In the season opener, the Salukis went down early after junior pitcher Brianna Jones gave up a homerun in the opening frame of the season, but was picked up by her offense in the next inning. Sophomore Susie Baranski opened the season with a double and came around to score two batters later when sophomore Maddy Vermejan hit a sacrifice RBI to the short stop. In the next at-bat, another sophomore, Katelyn Massa homered to deep left to give Southern a lead that it would never relinquish.
In the bottom of the second, the Salukis busted the scoring wide open when the team hit around the order once and put up six runs in the frame. Sophomore Kyleigh Decker opened the scoring in the inning with an RBI double to the opposite field that scored senior Sydney Jones. Then, Baranski drew a walk to run Abilene Christian's pitcher, sophomore Shelby Craig, from the game after just an inning and a third.
Following the pitching change, freshman Maris Boelens walked to score a run. Vermejan followed her walk with a single to score Decker and Massa drew a walk to score Baranski. Sydney Jones closed the scoring in the inning with a 2 RBI double that scored Vermejan and Boelens.
Baranski finished the day 2-7 at the plate with a double and 2 runs scored.
Vermejan went 3-6 in both of Southern's games with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored.
After the offensive outburst, the Salukis led 8-1.
Brianna Jones was masterful, and had it not been for a couple of Saluki fielding errors in the top of the fifth, she likely would have finished the game with a one-run complete game. In the fifth, Jones walked the second batter of the inning. Then Southern committed errors on two of the next three balls put in play to score two unearned runs to make the score 8-3. Jones allowed a homerun to ACU's Brianna Barnhill on the next at-bat that scored two runs and closed the scoring at 8-5.
"Bri was hard on herself after giving up the bomb after an error, but I reminded her that we shouldn't even be at that point," Blaylock said. "I felt really good about how she and Savanna threw."
In total, Jones threw 7 innings, allowed 1 earned run, struck out 9 and walked 2 while giving up six hits in her first win of 2018.
In game two, Texas – San Antonio got out to an early lead in the top of the first when junior Bailee Baldwin took a pitch from senior pitcher Savanna Dover over the left-field fence for a solo home run.
However, the Saluki offense had their pitcher's back again in the second game. Sydney Jones crushed a homerun to left in the top of the second to tie the game. Through the two games on Friday, Jones went 3-6 with a double, a home run, 2 runs scored and three RBI.
"One of our mission statements as a team is to respond," Blaylock said. "That's what we want to do this year. We want to be known as team that responds. We also want to be good immediately. We didn't want to wait 15 or 20 games to get in a groove. We have the makings of a pretty good team and we wanted to get after it."
In the bottom of the third, Baldwin hit her second homer of the game, this time to dead center to put UTSA out front for good. Baldwin finished her home opener 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI, 2 homeruns and a walk and a steal.
In the bottom of the fourth, the UTSA offense kept rolling, this time when Celeste Loughman tripled to the gap in right center to score a run. She would score from third later in the inning to give the Roadrunners a 4-1 lead.
In the next inning, Southern's senior Savanna Fisher jumped all over a pitch from UTSA's senior Lizzy Fox for a solo home run to center to make the score 4-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, Dover worked her way into a two-out jam and nearly got out of it, but a Saluki error allowed two runs to score to give UTSA a 6-2 lead.
In total, Dover allowed 4 earned runs on 8 hits and recorded 5 strikeouts and 4 walks on the loss.
"I feel like our kids made some big outs. Bri had 9 strikeouts and gave up 1 earned," Blaylock said. "Savanna threw with a lot of confidence. She had her zone and had all of her pitches. She's throwing like a senior."
In the top of the seventh, the Salukis began to mount a two-out rally. Vermejan was hit by a pitch to give Southern a base runner. In the next at-bat, freshman Jenny Jansen hit a homerun to left field to cut the lead down to two runs. It was the first hit of her collegiate career. In the next at-bat, Massa flied out to deep left to end the game.
Despite being the final out of the second game, Massa played well overall. She was 3-7 with a double, a homerun and 2 RBI.
"I feel like we hit well one through nine today," Blaylock said. "Our bench did well too. Jenny Jansen stung the ball all day and had a homerun to show for it. Haley Andrus hit the ball well. Kyleigh Decker did too. All of these people are getting playing time now along with our big kids. We're hitting well and we need to clean up somethings going forward."
Southern has a quick turnaround tomorrow. After playing the final two games of the UTSA Softball Classic tonight, it will play the first two of the Classic tomorrow. The Salukis face Texas A&M Corpus – Christi at 9 a.m. and Abilene Christian again at 11:30 a.m.
Southern exploded offensively to defeat Abilene Christian 8-5 in the season opener, but fell to Texas – San Antonio in the Roadrunners' home opener 6-4. Southern saw both pitchers throw complete games and got boosts from seniors and sophomores offensively.
"Today we had two good pitching performances and we hit the ball extremely well. As well as I've seen some of my teams hit in I don't know how long," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "The difference in the games were six unearned runs. We understand that. Those are things that we will clean up once we start practicing outside."
In the season opener, the Salukis went down early after junior pitcher Brianna Jones gave up a homerun in the opening frame of the season, but was picked up by her offense in the next inning. Sophomore Susie Baranski opened the season with a double and came around to score two batters later when sophomore Maddy Vermejan hit a sacrifice RBI to the short stop. In the next at-bat, another sophomore, Katelyn Massa homered to deep left to give Southern a lead that it would never relinquish.
In the bottom of the second, the Salukis busted the scoring wide open when the team hit around the order once and put up six runs in the frame. Sophomore Kyleigh Decker opened the scoring in the inning with an RBI double to the opposite field that scored senior Sydney Jones. Then, Baranski drew a walk to run Abilene Christian's pitcher, sophomore Shelby Craig, from the game after just an inning and a third.
Following the pitching change, freshman Maris Boelens walked to score a run. Vermejan followed her walk with a single to score Decker and Massa drew a walk to score Baranski. Sydney Jones closed the scoring in the inning with a 2 RBI double that scored Vermejan and Boelens.
Baranski finished the day 2-7 at the plate with a double and 2 runs scored.
Vermejan went 3-6 in both of Southern's games with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored.
After the offensive outburst, the Salukis led 8-1.
Brianna Jones was masterful, and had it not been for a couple of Saluki fielding errors in the top of the fifth, she likely would have finished the game with a one-run complete game. In the fifth, Jones walked the second batter of the inning. Then Southern committed errors on two of the next three balls put in play to score two unearned runs to make the score 8-3. Jones allowed a homerun to ACU's Brianna Barnhill on the next at-bat that scored two runs and closed the scoring at 8-5.
"Bri was hard on herself after giving up the bomb after an error, but I reminded her that we shouldn't even be at that point," Blaylock said. "I felt really good about how she and Savanna threw."
In total, Jones threw 7 innings, allowed 1 earned run, struck out 9 and walked 2 while giving up six hits in her first win of 2018.
In game two, Texas – San Antonio got out to an early lead in the top of the first when junior Bailee Baldwin took a pitch from senior pitcher Savanna Dover over the left-field fence for a solo home run.
However, the Saluki offense had their pitcher's back again in the second game. Sydney Jones crushed a homerun to left in the top of the second to tie the game. Through the two games on Friday, Jones went 3-6 with a double, a home run, 2 runs scored and three RBI.
"One of our mission statements as a team is to respond," Blaylock said. "That's what we want to do this year. We want to be known as team that responds. We also want to be good immediately. We didn't want to wait 15 or 20 games to get in a groove. We have the makings of a pretty good team and we wanted to get after it."
In the bottom of the third, Baldwin hit her second homer of the game, this time to dead center to put UTSA out front for good. Baldwin finished her home opener 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI, 2 homeruns and a walk and a steal.
In the bottom of the fourth, the UTSA offense kept rolling, this time when Celeste Loughman tripled to the gap in right center to score a run. She would score from third later in the inning to give the Roadrunners a 4-1 lead.
In the next inning, Southern's senior Savanna Fisher jumped all over a pitch from UTSA's senior Lizzy Fox for a solo home run to center to make the score 4-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, Dover worked her way into a two-out jam and nearly got out of it, but a Saluki error allowed two runs to score to give UTSA a 6-2 lead.
In total, Dover allowed 4 earned runs on 8 hits and recorded 5 strikeouts and 4 walks on the loss.
"I feel like our kids made some big outs. Bri had 9 strikeouts and gave up 1 earned," Blaylock said. "Savanna threw with a lot of confidence. She had her zone and had all of her pitches. She's throwing like a senior."
In the top of the seventh, the Salukis began to mount a two-out rally. Vermejan was hit by a pitch to give Southern a base runner. In the next at-bat, freshman Jenny Jansen hit a homerun to left field to cut the lead down to two runs. It was the first hit of her collegiate career. In the next at-bat, Massa flied out to deep left to end the game.
Despite being the final out of the second game, Massa played well overall. She was 3-7 with a double, a homerun and 2 RBI.
"I feel like we hit well one through nine today," Blaylock said. "Our bench did well too. Jenny Jansen stung the ball all day and had a homerun to show for it. Haley Andrus hit the ball well. Kyleigh Decker did too. All of these people are getting playing time now along with our big kids. We're hitting well and we need to clean up somethings going forward."
Southern has a quick turnaround tomorrow. After playing the final two games of the UTSA Softball Classic tonight, it will play the first two of the Classic tomorrow. The Salukis face Texas A&M Corpus – Christi at 9 a.m. and Abilene Christian again at 11:30 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Brianna (1-0)
L: Craig, Shelby (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Hedrick, Peyton 1 ; Barnhill, Brianna 1
RBI: Hedrick, Peyton 1 ; Barnhill, Brianna 2
SH: Johnson, Donelle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tijerina, Briana 1 ; Hedrick, Peyton 2 ; Neese, Holly 1 ; Barnhill, Brianna 1
Batting:
2B: Baranski, Susie 1 ; Jones, Sydney 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
HR: Massa, Katelyn 1
RBI: Boelens, Maris 1 ; Vermejan, Maddy 2 ; Massa, Katelyn 2 ; Jones, Sydney 2 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
SH: Boelens, Maris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Baranski, Susie 2 ; Boelens, Maris 1 ; Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Jones, Sydney 1 ; Wernig, Meredith 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
C/DP
/ Softball
INF
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