Saturday, May 12
Des Moines, Iowa
1:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
31-22
1
at
4
Drake
43-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
0
Drake
0
3
1
0
0
0
X
4
7
2
Salukis fall to Drake in MVC title game
05/12/2018 | 5:50:00 | Softball
The Saluki softball season came to an end today in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship game after a 4-1 loss to the regular season and conference tournament champions Drake.
Â
Drake scored three in the second and one in the third while its starter, Nicole Newman, the MVC Pitcher of the Year, struck out 10 and allowed just two hits. The Salukis lone run came off a Jenny Jansen single in the sixth inning.
Â
"I was really proud of our kids. We battled hard. Alexander barreled up a ball and that kind of took the wind out of us for little while, but then we came back and got a run," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We squared the ball up a couple of times. I'm really proud of them. They put together a great season."
Â
With the loss, Southern closed out the season at 31-22 and 12-12 in the MVC tournament. Southern's run through the tournament featured wins over Missouri State which beat the Salukis in both contest earlier this season as well as a win over Illinois State's Morgan Day who took a no-hitter against the Salukis into the seventh inning in March.
Â
Three Salukis, senior Sydney Jones, junior Brianna Jones and sophomore Katelyn Massa were named to the MVC All-Tournament team.
Â
Massa hit .400 on the weekend with a homerun and an RBI. The All-MVC First Team Selection hit .310 on the season with 11 home runs and 48 RBIs. She was just three RBIs short of tying the program record at SIU. She has sole possession of fourth in the category.
Â
As for Brianna Jones, she was 2-1 on the weekend with a 1.50 ERA and 14 strikeouts. She put together her best season as a Saluki in 2018, going 26-8 with 211 strikeouts, 232.1 innings pitched, six shutouts, 26 complete games and an opposing batting average of .240. Her 26 wins this season is tied for the third most in a single-season with Cassidy Scoggins. Her 43 appearances were third most in a single-season. She tied her personal best with 26 complete games, which is also tied for the third most in school history. She also cracked the single-season top-10 in starts, strikeouts, and winning percentage.
Â
Sydney Jones hit .200 on the weekend with 4 RBIs and a double. She closed out her career in the top-five all-time at SIU in homeruns with 27.
Â
The Salukis played the Conference Championship with Maddy Vermejan, a First Team All-MVC selection and the Defensive Player of the Year in the Valley at less than 100% with a sprained ankle. She closed out the season with a .346 batting average, 11 doubles, five home runs and 11 RBIs. She was hit by 22 pitches this season, one short of the single-season school record.
Â
"The last third of our season was as good as we've been," Blaylock said. "It was a lot of fun and I'm really happy for them. We won two good ball games and we went on to the Championship. I'm really proud of them."
Â
Â
Drake scored three in the second and one in the third while its starter, Nicole Newman, the MVC Pitcher of the Year, struck out 10 and allowed just two hits. The Salukis lone run came off a Jenny Jansen single in the sixth inning.
Â
"I was really proud of our kids. We battled hard. Alexander barreled up a ball and that kind of took the wind out of us for little while, but then we came back and got a run," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We squared the ball up a couple of times. I'm really proud of them. They put together a great season."
Â
With the loss, Southern closed out the season at 31-22 and 12-12 in the MVC tournament. Southern's run through the tournament featured wins over Missouri State which beat the Salukis in both contest earlier this season as well as a win over Illinois State's Morgan Day who took a no-hitter against the Salukis into the seventh inning in March.
Â
Three Salukis, senior Sydney Jones, junior Brianna Jones and sophomore Katelyn Massa were named to the MVC All-Tournament team.
Â
Massa hit .400 on the weekend with a homerun and an RBI. The All-MVC First Team Selection hit .310 on the season with 11 home runs and 48 RBIs. She was just three RBIs short of tying the program record at SIU. She has sole possession of fourth in the category.
Â
As for Brianna Jones, she was 2-1 on the weekend with a 1.50 ERA and 14 strikeouts. She put together her best season as a Saluki in 2018, going 26-8 with 211 strikeouts, 232.1 innings pitched, six shutouts, 26 complete games and an opposing batting average of .240. Her 26 wins this season is tied for the third most in a single-season with Cassidy Scoggins. Her 43 appearances were third most in a single-season. She tied her personal best with 26 complete games, which is also tied for the third most in school history. She also cracked the single-season top-10 in starts, strikeouts, and winning percentage.
Â
Sydney Jones hit .200 on the weekend with 4 RBIs and a double. She closed out her career in the top-five all-time at SIU in homeruns with 27.
Â
The Salukis played the Conference Championship with Maddy Vermejan, a First Team All-MVC selection and the Defensive Player of the Year in the Valley at less than 100% with a sprained ankle. She closed out the season with a .346 batting average, 11 doubles, five home runs and 11 RBIs. She was hit by 22 pitches this season, one short of the single-season school record.
Â
"The last third of our season was as good as we've been," Blaylock said. "It was a lot of fun and I'm really happy for them. We won two good ball games and we went on to the Championship. I'm really proud of them."
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Newman,Nicole (21-3)
L: Jones, Brianna (26-8)
Batting:
RBI: Jansen, Jenny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Baranski, Susie 1
HBP: Massa, Katelyn 1
Batting:
2B: Wright,Kelsey 1
HR: Alexander,Tasha 1
RBI: Maddox,Sarah 1 ; Wright,Kelsey 1 ; Alexander,Tasha 2
SH: Chambers,Ashlie 1
SF: Maddox,Sarah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson,Macy 1 ; Maddox,Sarah 1 ; Wright,Kelsey 1 ; Alexander,Tasha 1
HBP: Roemmich,Mandi 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/INF
/ SoftballC/DP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball9.10.25 | Saluki Radio Football Podcast - UT Martin
Wednesday, September 10
9.9.25 | Coach Nick Hill Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, September 09
Inside Saluki Athletics - September 9th
Tuesday, September 09
9.7.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame Purdue- Vinson Davis and Andrew Behm
Sunday, September 07