Saturday, March 10
Tampa, Fla
1:00 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
12-8
10
vs
0
Rider
2-9
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Rider
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
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Southern Illinois
0
4
6
0
X
10
7
0
Salukis blow out Rider, Fall to UCF
03/10/2018 | 8:43:00 | Softball
Saluki softball hit the ball well in the second day of the USF Under Armour Showcase in Clearwater, Florida. Southern defeated Rider 10-0, and continued to hit the ball well against UCF, but fell 8-3.
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"I'm very, very pleased with the offense today. I thought we hit the ball pretty well," Blaylock said. "We didn't pitch very well in the Central Florida game, but those were things that I think we can shore up. Overall, I thought the kids came ready to play today. It was another good bout of competition and a learning experience for us."
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Against Rider, Southern opened the scoring in the second inning. Freshman Jenny Jansen got things going as the leadoff hitter with a single. In the next at-bat, senior Haley Andrus reached on an error by the Broncs' shortstop. A bunt single from sophomore Kyleigh Decker loaded the bases for SIU. Two batters latter, senior Savannah Fisher stepped up and crushed a pitch to left for a grand slam. It was her third home run of the season and second in as many days.
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In the third inning, the Salukis continued to pour it on. Sophomore Katelyn Massa opened the inning with a walk. Jansen doubled in the next at-bat to move freshman Meredith Wernig, who pinch ran for Massa, to third. Andrus followed Andrus's double with a single to score Wernig. Decker followed Andrus's single with one of her own to score sophomore Bailey Pulley who pinch ran for Andrus. The series of hits put Southern up 7-0. In the next at-bat, Savannah Fisher drew a bases loaded walk to score her fifth RBI of the day.
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Overall, Fisher went 1-1 at the plate with a walk, two runs scored and five RBI; she was two short of tying the program record for RBI in a game.
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"She played really well. Ultimately, that grand slam catapulted us and got us on our way," Blaylock said.
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After Fishers walk in the third, Southern's offense didn't slow down. Later in the inning, senior Brittany Turner singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by the second baseman. The error allowed Decker and senior Sydney Jones to score and make the score 9-0. Sophomore Maddy Vermejan closed out the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Fisher.
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In the game, Jansen went 2-3 with 2 runs scored and Decker was 2-2 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.
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While Southern's offense was blowing Rider out of the water, junior pitcher Brianna Jones was blowing the ball by its hitters. Jones earned the win improving to 10-1 on the season. She struck out 7, walked none and allowed just 2 hits in the five-inning shutout win. Jones' 7 strike outs were the most in a game since February 23, when she struck out 8 in 10 innings against UConn.
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"We played really well. Our energy was really good and we came out from the get go," Blaylock said. "The preseason is getting a little bit long now and we've got five games this weekend. I was really pleased with our effort today. It was very good."
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Against UCF, the Saluki bats stayed hot as the team continued to hit the ball hard, however UCF made several good defensive plays to rob Southern of hits.
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UCF opened the scoring in the first inning when an RBI triple off of senior starter Savanna Dover in the first inning. The score remained 1-0 until the fifth inning when UCF scored four more to make the score 5-0. Dover was pulled from the game for freshman pitcher Megan Brown in the fifth. Dover threw 4.1 innings, gave up 6 hits, allowed 5 runs and walked 3 and struck out 1.
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In the sixth, Brown allowed a solo-home run to make the score 6-0.
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In the bottom of the sixth, Southern finally got to UCF starter Alea White. Sophomore Susie Baranski started the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. In the next at-bat, Vermejan doubled to score Baranski from second. Two batters later, a single from Jansen and an error on the Golden Knight's right fielder allowed Vermejan to score to make the score 6-2. Jansen advanced to third by way of a steal. Andrus hit a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Jansen to score from third to make the score a much more manageable, 6-3.
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Unfortunately, UCF put the game back out of reach in the top of the seventh with back-to-back solo-home runs to make the score 8-3.
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"We hit the ball hard in that game. I feel like against a team like that if you score three or four runs you should be able to win the game," Blaylock said.
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With the win, UCF improved to 16-9 and the Salukis fell to 12-9. Southern closes out the weekend tomorrow against Maine looking to win four out of five games from the tournament.
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"I'm very, very pleased with the offense today. I thought we hit the ball pretty well," Blaylock said. "We didn't pitch very well in the Central Florida game, but those were things that I think we can shore up. Overall, I thought the kids came ready to play today. It was another good bout of competition and a learning experience for us."
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Against Rider, Southern opened the scoring in the second inning. Freshman Jenny Jansen got things going as the leadoff hitter with a single. In the next at-bat, senior Haley Andrus reached on an error by the Broncs' shortstop. A bunt single from sophomore Kyleigh Decker loaded the bases for SIU. Two batters latter, senior Savannah Fisher stepped up and crushed a pitch to left for a grand slam. It was her third home run of the season and second in as many days.
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In the third inning, the Salukis continued to pour it on. Sophomore Katelyn Massa opened the inning with a walk. Jansen doubled in the next at-bat to move freshman Meredith Wernig, who pinch ran for Massa, to third. Andrus followed Andrus's double with a single to score Wernig. Decker followed Andrus's single with one of her own to score sophomore Bailey Pulley who pinch ran for Andrus. The series of hits put Southern up 7-0. In the next at-bat, Savannah Fisher drew a bases loaded walk to score her fifth RBI of the day.
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Overall, Fisher went 1-1 at the plate with a walk, two runs scored and five RBI; she was two short of tying the program record for RBI in a game.
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"She played really well. Ultimately, that grand slam catapulted us and got us on our way," Blaylock said.
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After Fishers walk in the third, Southern's offense didn't slow down. Later in the inning, senior Brittany Turner singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by the second baseman. The error allowed Decker and senior Sydney Jones to score and make the score 9-0. Sophomore Maddy Vermejan closed out the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Fisher.
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In the game, Jansen went 2-3 with 2 runs scored and Decker was 2-2 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.
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While Southern's offense was blowing Rider out of the water, junior pitcher Brianna Jones was blowing the ball by its hitters. Jones earned the win improving to 10-1 on the season. She struck out 7, walked none and allowed just 2 hits in the five-inning shutout win. Jones' 7 strike outs were the most in a game since February 23, when she struck out 8 in 10 innings against UConn.
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"We played really well. Our energy was really good and we came out from the get go," Blaylock said. "The preseason is getting a little bit long now and we've got five games this weekend. I was really pleased with our effort today. It was very good."
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Against UCF, the Saluki bats stayed hot as the team continued to hit the ball hard, however UCF made several good defensive plays to rob Southern of hits.
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UCF opened the scoring in the first inning when an RBI triple off of senior starter Savanna Dover in the first inning. The score remained 1-0 until the fifth inning when UCF scored four more to make the score 5-0. Dover was pulled from the game for freshman pitcher Megan Brown in the fifth. Dover threw 4.1 innings, gave up 6 hits, allowed 5 runs and walked 3 and struck out 1.
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In the sixth, Brown allowed a solo-home run to make the score 6-0.
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In the bottom of the sixth, Southern finally got to UCF starter Alea White. Sophomore Susie Baranski started the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. In the next at-bat, Vermejan doubled to score Baranski from second. Two batters later, a single from Jansen and an error on the Golden Knight's right fielder allowed Vermejan to score to make the score 6-2. Jansen advanced to third by way of a steal. Andrus hit a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Jansen to score from third to make the score a much more manageable, 6-3.
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Unfortunately, UCF put the game back out of reach in the top of the seventh with back-to-back solo-home runs to make the score 8-3.
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"We hit the ball hard in that game. I feel like against a team like that if you score three or four runs you should be able to win the game," Blaylock said.
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With the win, UCF improved to 16-9 and the Salukis fell to 12-9. Southern closes out the weekend tomorrow against Maine looking to win four out of five games from the tournament.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Brianna (10-1)
L: Cuttic, Elyse (1-6)
Base Running:
HBP: Bram, Gabby 1
Batting:
2B: Jansen, Jenny 1
HR: Fisher, Savannah 1
RBI: Turner, Brittany 2 ; Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Andrus, Haley 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1 ; Fisher, Savannah 5
SF: Vermejan, Maddy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wernig, Meredith 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 2 ; Andrus, Haley 1 ; Pulley, Bailee 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 2 ; Jones, Sydney 1 ; Fisher, Savannah 2
HBP: Wernig, Meredith 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
ph/rf
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT/P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
C/DP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
IF
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