Thursday, April 5
Carbondale, Ill.
4:00 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
20-12
2
vs
1
Southeast Missouri State University
19-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Southeast Missouri
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
6
4
Photo by: Madison Case
Salukis send SEMO home with walk-off win
04/05/2018 | 9:00:00 | Softball
The Jonses, Brianna and Sydney, helped lift the Salukis to their 20th win of the season in an extra-inning affair against regional foes Southeast Missouri State on Thursday at Charlotte West Stadium.
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Brianna Jones pitched in relief and struck out six in 4.1 innings of work and Sydney Jones provided the walk-off single to lift the Salukis (20-12, 4-3 MVC) over SEMO.
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"I was really proud of the kids. We haven't played consistently and you could tell that on defense today," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We pitched extremely well against a really good club and hung in there against their really good pitching and were able to make adjustments."
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Senior pitcher Savanna Dover got the start for Southern and pitched well. She allowed a single to start the game, but was strong after. She held the Redhawks scoreless for four and two-thirds and at one point retired nine-straight batters.
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The Salukis scored first in the game. That run came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sophomore Susie Baranski started the inning off with a bunt single, Southern's first hit of the day. On the next at-bat sophomore catcher Katelyn Massa drew a walk. Freshman Jenny Jansen followed Massa's walk with a high-chopping ball that got over the third baseman's head to score Baranski and give SIU a 1-0 lead. The RBI was Jansen's 21st of the year.
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In the next inning, SEMO put an end to Southern's short-lived lead with a solo-home run. Back-to-back errors following the dinger spelled the end of Dover's day. She allowed three hits, an earned run and struck out four in the no decision.
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"Savanna Dover threw as well as she has since Florida Gulf Coast in February," Blaylock said. "She threw really well and worked the zone well."
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As the game went on, Southern continued to put pressure on the Redhawks offensively. The Salukis loaded the bases twice and got at least one runner on in each inning from the fourth on.
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In the sixth inning, senior Sydney Jones recorded her first hit of the day to extend her hitting streak to six games. Before her streak began, Jones was hitting .228, now her average is up to .257.
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"I'm just trying to hit the ball hard," Jones said. "It's tough to make adjustments as a hitter. It can take you out of your game a little bit. I've just been trying to stay consistent, hit the ball hard and hopefully things will go my way."
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As Southern put offensive pressure on SEMO, the Redhawks were doing the same to the Salukis.
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In the eighth, the Redhawks' reached on an error, junior pitcher Brianna Jones, who entered in the fifth in relief, hit the next batter to put runners in scoring position. Jones composed herself and sat the next three batters down with a groundout and back-to-back strikeouts.
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Jones struck out two more in the top of the ninth to bring her total on the game to six in just four and a third innings of work.
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In the bottom of the ninth, Massa singled with one out and advanced to second off of a passed ball. Jansen drew and intentional walk and freshman Megan Brown drew one of her own after a feisty at-bat and another passed ball allowed Massa and Jansen to move to second and third. With one out, Sydney Jones stepped to the plate and knocked a walk-off single to score Massa from third.
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"I wish I would've swung at the first pitch," said Jones with a smile after the game. "The second one I thought I got a good hack on. The third pitch she went flat on and I took advantage of it… This is the type of game you have to gut out. It's going to take one hit or one play and we came up when we needed to."
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The single clinched Southern's 20th win of the season and Brianna Jones' 16th. Southern improved to 3-0 in extra innings games.
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The Salukis face off this weekend against the MVC leaders, Drake. The series was moved to Carbondale from Des Moines, Iowa and is set for a double header on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. Southern will be the away team despite playing at home.
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Brianna Jones pitched in relief and struck out six in 4.1 innings of work and Sydney Jones provided the walk-off single to lift the Salukis (20-12, 4-3 MVC) over SEMO.
Â
"I was really proud of the kids. We haven't played consistently and you could tell that on defense today," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We pitched extremely well against a really good club and hung in there against their really good pitching and were able to make adjustments."
Â
Senior pitcher Savanna Dover got the start for Southern and pitched well. She allowed a single to start the game, but was strong after. She held the Redhawks scoreless for four and two-thirds and at one point retired nine-straight batters.
Â
The Salukis scored first in the game. That run came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sophomore Susie Baranski started the inning off with a bunt single, Southern's first hit of the day. On the next at-bat sophomore catcher Katelyn Massa drew a walk. Freshman Jenny Jansen followed Massa's walk with a high-chopping ball that got over the third baseman's head to score Baranski and give SIU a 1-0 lead. The RBI was Jansen's 21st of the year.
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In the next inning, SEMO put an end to Southern's short-lived lead with a solo-home run. Back-to-back errors following the dinger spelled the end of Dover's day. She allowed three hits, an earned run and struck out four in the no decision.
Â
"Savanna Dover threw as well as she has since Florida Gulf Coast in February," Blaylock said. "She threw really well and worked the zone well."
Â
As the game went on, Southern continued to put pressure on the Redhawks offensively. The Salukis loaded the bases twice and got at least one runner on in each inning from the fourth on.
Â
In the sixth inning, senior Sydney Jones recorded her first hit of the day to extend her hitting streak to six games. Before her streak began, Jones was hitting .228, now her average is up to .257.
Â
"I'm just trying to hit the ball hard," Jones said. "It's tough to make adjustments as a hitter. It can take you out of your game a little bit. I've just been trying to stay consistent, hit the ball hard and hopefully things will go my way."
Â
As Southern put offensive pressure on SEMO, the Redhawks were doing the same to the Salukis.
Â
In the eighth, the Redhawks' reached on an error, junior pitcher Brianna Jones, who entered in the fifth in relief, hit the next batter to put runners in scoring position. Jones composed herself and sat the next three batters down with a groundout and back-to-back strikeouts.
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Jones struck out two more in the top of the ninth to bring her total on the game to six in just four and a third innings of work.
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In the bottom of the ninth, Massa singled with one out and advanced to second off of a passed ball. Jansen drew and intentional walk and freshman Megan Brown drew one of her own after a feisty at-bat and another passed ball allowed Massa and Jansen to move to second and third. With one out, Sydney Jones stepped to the plate and knocked a walk-off single to score Massa from third.
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"I wish I would've swung at the first pitch," said Jones with a smile after the game. "The second one I thought I got a good hack on. The third pitch she went flat on and I took advantage of it… This is the type of game you have to gut out. It's going to take one hit or one play and we came up when we needed to."
Â
The single clinched Southern's 20th win of the season and Brianna Jones' 16th. Southern improved to 3-0 in extra innings games.
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The Salukis face off this weekend against the MVC leaders, Drake. The series was moved to Carbondale from Des Moines, Iowa and is set for a double header on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. Southern will be the away team despite playing at home.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Brianna (16-2)
L: THOGMARTIN, Haley (5-5)
Batting:
HR: MESSEX, Sarah 1
RBI: MESSEX, Sarah 1
SH: BARNOUSKI, Addison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MESSEX, Sarah 1
CS: CONWAY, Randi Dae 1
HBP: ANDERSON, Rachel 1
Batting:
RBI: Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Jones, Sydney 1
SH: Vermejan, Maddy 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Baranski, Susie 1 ; Massa, Katelyn 1
HBP: Vermejan, Maddy 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
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