Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
3-2
Mississippi Valley State
0-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 1 |
| Mississippi Valley | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
Salukis blow out Mississippi Valley State
02/10/2019 | 3:08:00 | Softball
HAMMOND, La. — The Southern Illinois softball team (3-2) earned their third-straight win in a 15-3 route over Mississippi Valley State (0-4) in the final day at the Lion Classic.
The Saluki offense exploded for 15 runs on eight hits in the victory. Patience was key against the Devilettes, as Southern drew 12 walks. Kyleigh Decker drew of four of the 12, which tied a single game record held by Kalyn Harker, who drew four against Maryland in 2012. Susie Baranski paced the offense, going for 2-2 at the plate with two runs scored, one run batted in and a steal.
Holly Marousek started and lasted 1.1 innings before being replaced by Brianna Jones (2-1), who pitched the remaining 3.2 innings. Jones earned the decision, as she gave up only three hits and one run, while striking out a game-high four batters.
"I thought the offense was real good right away," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We talked about having energy and finishing really strong, so I thought the kids did a great job."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Southern surged to six runs on four hits, two walks, two hit by pitches and one error in the opening inning. The Salukis batted through the lineup and brought a total of 11 batters to the plate.
Jenny Jansen got SIU in the scoring column when she drilled her first career triple to right center field to score Baranski. The next two batters reached and with the bases loaded, Megan Brown hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring Jansen home. Ashley Wood then continued her hot start to the season with a single through the left side to score Decker and pinch runner Bailee Pulley. The Salukis got their last two runs in the first on RBI singles from Shelby Hodo and Baranski.
It was the first time this season that SIU scored in the first.
In the bottom of the second, Mississippi Valley had three-straight hits and a run against Marousek, which resulted in Jones coming in relief for the sophomore transfer. Jones gave up an RBI single to her first batter faced, reducing the SIU lead to 6-2. She then retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.
In the fourth, the Salukis blew up the game with nine runs on two hits, nine walks, four wild pitches and one passed ball. They also batted through the order twice in the inning.
Baranski hit a leadoff triple to start the inning and scored on a sac fly by Maddy Vermejan the next play. The trio of Jansen, Katelyn Massa and Decker then drew three-consecutive walks to load the bases. Jansen scored on a passed ball, Massa reached home on an infield RBI single from Brown and Decker scored on a wild pitch. SIU did not collect a hit for the remainder of the inning, but still managed to score five more runs in result of five walks, three wild pitches and one hit batter by the Devilette pitchers. At the conclusion of the half inning, Southern held a 15-2 advantage over Mississippi Valley.
The nine runs were the most in a inning by a Saluki team since they scored nine in the seventh in a 18-10 win over Bradley on April 21, 2018.
"Sometimes when the pitchers are struggling, you have to do a good job of being patient and getting good pitches to hit," Blaylock said. "Our offense did a good job of doing that."
Jones allowed her lone earned run of the day in the fifth, but closed out the game by forcing a groundout to third base.
On the weekend, Jones went 2-1 in five appearances with a 1.91 ERA and 16 strikeouts.
NEXT UP
The Salukis are back in action from Feb. 14-16 at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. Southern will face off against Mississippi State, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State and North Dakota State in the three-day span.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Brianna (2-1)
L: DAISY PAGE (0-2)
Batting:
3B: Baranski, Susie 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 1
RBI: Baranski, Susie 1 ; Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1 ; Brown, Megan 2 ; Wood, Ashley 2 ; Hodo, Shelby 1 ; Boelens, Maris 1
SH: Vermejan, Maddy 1
SF: Brown, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Baranski, Susie 2 ; Johnson, Nicole 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 2 ; Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Pulley, Bailee 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 2 ; Sikes, Sidney 1 ; Wood, Ashley 2 ; Hodo, Shelby 1 ; Spicer, Jordan 1 ; Boelens, Maris 1
SB: Baranski, Susie 1 ; Johnson, Nicole 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
HBP: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Boelens, Maris 1
Batting:
2B: DEJANAE GAGE 1 ; DEMI SLATER 1
RBI: CAILYN PETERSON 1 ; JAIME PARMLEY 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BRIANNA ALSTON 1 ; DEJANAE GAGE 1 ; KAILYN DUNN 1
