Wednesday, March 21
Saint Louis, MO
3:00 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
17-10
9
at
2
Saint Louis University
14-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
2
0
2
0
1
4
0
9
11
0
Saint Louis
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
7
2
Salukis claim big win over Saint Louis
03/21/2018 | 6:46:00 | Softball
Big offensive games from Saluki underclassmen and one of senior pitcher Savanna Dover's best starts in the month of March led to a big 9-2 win over the Billikens of Saint Louis University.
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"We came out and set the tone with some good at-bats early. I thought Savanna Dover threw well and really righted herself. She threw a good game," Head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "Saint Louis University is a good team. The score was a little more indicative of how we handled them, but they're a good team."
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The Salukis (17-10, 2-1 MVC) put pressure onto the Billikens (14-12) from the very start of the game with a string of patient at-bats in the top of the first inning. Southern drew three straight walks with one out to load the bases. SLU committed two fielding mistakes and aggressive base running allowed Southern to score twice and take an early 2-0 lead while earning just one hit.
After entering the game with a lead, Dover retired six of the first eight batters she faced and struck out three Billikens in the second inning.
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In the top of the third, the Saluki offense tacked on two more when freshman Jenny Jansen struck with a no-doubter of a two-run home run over the left-field fence to make the score 4-0. In the next at-bat freshman Megan Brown doubled and was pinch-ran for by freshman Maris Boelens. Boelens nearly scored two batters later when she attempted to go home from second on a single by senior Haley Andrus. Boelens nearly beat the throw, but was called out at home.
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In the top of the fifth, a single, Â Jansen struck again with a solo home run to left center to make the score 5-0.
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Southern jumped on Saint Louis early and never looked back, the team strung together seven hits and five runs through the first five innings.
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In the top of the sixth inning, the Salukis loaded the bases by way of a walk, single and an error by Billiken second baseman. Sophomore Katelyn Massa stepped up to the plate and cleared the bags with a 3 RBI single. Later in the inning, Jansen singled to score freshman Meredith Wernig to make the score 9-0.
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Jansen was 3-3 on the day with 4 RBI, 2 home runs, and a walk. Massa was 2-3 with a double and 3 RBI. Freshman Maris Boelens was also 2-2 at the plate. It was her first multi-hit game at SIU.
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"We had good performances out of Jenny Jansen, Katelyn Massa, Megan Brown and Maris Boelens today," Blaylock said. "They did a good job setting the tone offensively."
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In the top of the sixth, Dover allowed a leadoff double that ended her day. The senior threw 5.0 innings, struck out three and allowed one earned run on four hits. She did not walk any batters in the win.
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Junior Brianna Jones took over and struck out four in just 2.0 innings of work. Jones surpassed 100 strikeouts on the season in the game.
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SLU would score twice in the sixth, but was only able to prevent the Salukis from winning in six innings.
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With the win, SIU improved to 17-10 on the season, are now 2-0 in mid-week games and 13-0 in games when they score first. The Salukis now turn their attention to a big Missouri Valley Conference showdown at Charlotte West Stadium when Illinois State comes to town. Illinois State and Southern were picked first and second in the MVC Preseason Poll and last met in the Conference semi-finals last year at Illinois State, a game which SIU won 2-0.
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"We came out and set the tone with some good at-bats early. I thought Savanna Dover threw well and really righted herself. She threw a good game," Head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "Saint Louis University is a good team. The score was a little more indicative of how we handled them, but they're a good team."
Â
The Salukis (17-10, 2-1 MVC) put pressure onto the Billikens (14-12) from the very start of the game with a string of patient at-bats in the top of the first inning. Southern drew three straight walks with one out to load the bases. SLU committed two fielding mistakes and aggressive base running allowed Southern to score twice and take an early 2-0 lead while earning just one hit.
After entering the game with a lead, Dover retired six of the first eight batters she faced and struck out three Billikens in the second inning.
Â
In the top of the third, the Saluki offense tacked on two more when freshman Jenny Jansen struck with a no-doubter of a two-run home run over the left-field fence to make the score 4-0. In the next at-bat freshman Megan Brown doubled and was pinch-ran for by freshman Maris Boelens. Boelens nearly scored two batters later when she attempted to go home from second on a single by senior Haley Andrus. Boelens nearly beat the throw, but was called out at home.
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In the top of the fifth, a single, Â Jansen struck again with a solo home run to left center to make the score 5-0.
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Southern jumped on Saint Louis early and never looked back, the team strung together seven hits and five runs through the first five innings.
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In the top of the sixth inning, the Salukis loaded the bases by way of a walk, single and an error by Billiken second baseman. Sophomore Katelyn Massa stepped up to the plate and cleared the bags with a 3 RBI single. Later in the inning, Jansen singled to score freshman Meredith Wernig to make the score 9-0.
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Jansen was 3-3 on the day with 4 RBI, 2 home runs, and a walk. Massa was 2-3 with a double and 3 RBI. Freshman Maris Boelens was also 2-2 at the plate. It was her first multi-hit game at SIU.
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"We had good performances out of Jenny Jansen, Katelyn Massa, Megan Brown and Maris Boelens today," Blaylock said. "They did a good job setting the tone offensively."
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In the top of the sixth, Dover allowed a leadoff double that ended her day. The senior threw 5.0 innings, struck out three and allowed one earned run on four hits. She did not walk any batters in the win.
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Junior Brianna Jones took over and struck out four in just 2.0 innings of work. Jones surpassed 100 strikeouts on the season in the game.
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SLU would score twice in the sixth, but was only able to prevent the Salukis from winning in six innings.
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With the win, SIU improved to 17-10 on the season, are now 2-0 in mid-week games and 13-0 in games when they score first. The Salukis now turn their attention to a big Missouri Valley Conference showdown at Charlotte West Stadium when Illinois State comes to town. Illinois State and Southern were picked first and second in the MVC Preseason Poll and last met in the Conference semi-finals last year at Illinois State, a game which SIU won 2-0.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dover, Savanna (3-8)
L: BAALMAN, Maddie (9-8)
Batting:
2B: Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Brown, Megan 1
HR: Jansen, Jenny 2
RBI: Massa, Katelyn 3 ; Jansen, Jenny 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Baranski, Susie 2 ; Massa, Katelyn 2 ; Wernig, Meredith 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 2 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
Batting:
2B: LOMAX, Lauren 1 ; MACFARLANE, Allie 1 ; CHAPPELLE, Kaylea 1
RBI: WISE, Sadie 1 ; MACFARLANE, Allie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: LOMAX, Lauren 1 ; LANE, Kat 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
pr/lf
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballUT/P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/DP
/ Softball
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