Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Friday, March 8
Carbondale, Ill.
4:45 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
11-6
5
vs
7
Miami University (OH)
9-6
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Miami (Ohio)
5
1
0
0
0
1
0
7
10
1
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
0
3
2
0
5
11
2
Salukis comeback falls short against RedHawks
03/08/2019 | 9:16:00 | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University softball team sent the winning run to the plate in the seventh inning against the Miami RedHawks, but were unable to complete the comeback Friday night.
The RedHawks (9-6) put up a five-spot in the top of the first and added a sixth run with just one away in the second to chase SIU starter Brianna Jones. Southern remained resilient and chipped away, as it put up a crooked number in the fifth with three runs on four hits. After Miami got one run back in the top-half of the sixth, SIU plated two more in the bottom half of the inning to cut its deficit to two.
Katelyn Massa drew a five-pitch walk to leadoff the seventh and a two-out single by Maris Boelens sent the winning run to the plate but the RedHawks induced the groundout they needed to seal the win.
Claire Miller was tremendous in relief of Jones. The Wayne City, Ill. native allowed just one run on three hits in five and two-third innings and struck out a season-high seven without issuing a walk.
"When you face non-conference opponents you don't know matchups and obviously Claire was a much better matchup than Bri was," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "It's one of those things you just don't know until you get in the ball game. I felt like Claire did a fantastic job after they punched us in the mouth. I thought our offense waited one inning too long. If only we could've started to make adjustments a little bit sooner but I was really proud with the way our kids fought back."
Seven Salukis recorded a hit in the loss, including three with multiple hits. Susie Baranski went 3-for-3 with three singles while Ashley Wood went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Jenny Jansen tallied her fourth-straight multi-hit game, as she finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Kyleigh Decker crushed her second home run of the season - a solo-shot in the sixth while Massa added a RBI-double.
Two singles and a one-out walk loaded the bases for the RedHawks in the top of the first. Miami's Jenny Vazquez made SIU pay with a grand slam to dead center. The RedHawks again loaded the bases and scratched across a fifth run before Southern recorded the third out in the first.
Miller came on in relief after Jones loaded the bases for a third time in the second inning. Southern appeared to get something going in the bottom of the frame after a single by Megan Brown and a walk from Kyleigh Decker, but Miami got back-to-back outs to get out of the jam.
SIU finally got to Miami's starting pitcher Courtney Vierstra in the fifth. A two-out single by Wood plated Maddy Vermejan for Southern's first run and Jansen brought Wood in with an infield single. Massa followed with a double to right field that scored Jansen from second.
After the RedHawks got a run back in the top of the sixth, Decker led off the bottom half of the frame with a solo blast over the scoreboard in right to chase Vierstra.
"When Kyleigh (hit her home run) and got Vierstra out of the game, I felt like we may have a shot," Blaylock said. "But we had a couple of at-bats in critical, RBI, situations where we left people on base. When you're fighting uphill like that from a 6-0 deficit, its pretty hard."
The Salukis looked poised to tie the contest in the seventh after they put runners on first and second with two outs, but a groundout ended the threat. Southern left nine on-base in the loss.
The Saluki Invitational continues tomorrow with five games on tap. Southern will take on 2018 NCAA Regional Qualifier UIC at 12:15 p.m. before facing Green Bay at 2:30 p.m.
Remaining Tournament Schedule
Saturday, March 9
10 a.m. - Miami (OH) vs. UIC
12:15 p.m. - SIU vs. UIC
2:30 p.m. - SIU vs. University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
4:45 p.m. - Miami (OH) vs. Butler
7 p.m. - Iowa vs. Butler
Sunday, March 10
10 a.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Miami (OH)
12:15 p.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Iowa
2:30 p.m. - Miami (OH) vs. Iowa
4:45 p.m. - SIU vs. Butler
The RedHawks (9-6) put up a five-spot in the top of the first and added a sixth run with just one away in the second to chase SIU starter Brianna Jones. Southern remained resilient and chipped away, as it put up a crooked number in the fifth with three runs on four hits. After Miami got one run back in the top-half of the sixth, SIU plated two more in the bottom half of the inning to cut its deficit to two.
Katelyn Massa drew a five-pitch walk to leadoff the seventh and a two-out single by Maris Boelens sent the winning run to the plate but the RedHawks induced the groundout they needed to seal the win.
Claire Miller was tremendous in relief of Jones. The Wayne City, Ill. native allowed just one run on three hits in five and two-third innings and struck out a season-high seven without issuing a walk.
"When you face non-conference opponents you don't know matchups and obviously Claire was a much better matchup than Bri was," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "It's one of those things you just don't know until you get in the ball game. I felt like Claire did a fantastic job after they punched us in the mouth. I thought our offense waited one inning too long. If only we could've started to make adjustments a little bit sooner but I was really proud with the way our kids fought back."
Seven Salukis recorded a hit in the loss, including three with multiple hits. Susie Baranski went 3-for-3 with three singles while Ashley Wood went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Jenny Jansen tallied her fourth-straight multi-hit game, as she finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Kyleigh Decker crushed her second home run of the season - a solo-shot in the sixth while Massa added a RBI-double.
Two singles and a one-out walk loaded the bases for the RedHawks in the top of the first. Miami's Jenny Vazquez made SIU pay with a grand slam to dead center. The RedHawks again loaded the bases and scratched across a fifth run before Southern recorded the third out in the first.
Miller came on in relief after Jones loaded the bases for a third time in the second inning. Southern appeared to get something going in the bottom of the frame after a single by Megan Brown and a walk from Kyleigh Decker, but Miami got back-to-back outs to get out of the jam.
SIU finally got to Miami's starting pitcher Courtney Vierstra in the fifth. A two-out single by Wood plated Maddy Vermejan for Southern's first run and Jansen brought Wood in with an infield single. Massa followed with a double to right field that scored Jansen from second.
After the RedHawks got a run back in the top of the sixth, Decker led off the bottom half of the frame with a solo blast over the scoreboard in right to chase Vierstra.
"When Kyleigh (hit her home run) and got Vierstra out of the game, I felt like we may have a shot," Blaylock said. "But we had a couple of at-bats in critical, RBI, situations where we left people on base. When you're fighting uphill like that from a 6-0 deficit, its pretty hard."
The Salukis looked poised to tie the contest in the seventh after they put runners on first and second with two outs, but a groundout ended the threat. Southern left nine on-base in the loss.
The Saluki Invitational continues tomorrow with five games on tap. Southern will take on 2018 NCAA Regional Qualifier UIC at 12:15 p.m. before facing Green Bay at 2:30 p.m.
Remaining Tournament Schedule
Saturday, March 9
10 a.m. - Miami (OH) vs. UIC
12:15 p.m. - SIU vs. UIC
2:30 p.m. - SIU vs. University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
4:45 p.m. - Miami (OH) vs. Butler
7 p.m. - Iowa vs. Butler
Sunday, March 10
10 a.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Miami (OH)
12:15 p.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Iowa
2:30 p.m. - Miami (OH) vs. Iowa
4:45 p.m. - SIU vs. Butler
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: VIERSTRA, Courtney (5-1)
L: Jones, Brianna (8-4)
S: PRATT, Brianna (1)
Batting:
2B: VASQUEZ, Jenny 1
HR: WAHL, Johniann 1 ; VASQUEZ, Jenny 1
RBI: WAHL, Johniann 1 ; VASQUEZ, Jenny 4 ; BARLOW, Adriana 1
SH: BARLOW, Adriana 1
SF: BARLOW, Adriana 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TRAN, Haeley 2 ; SLONE, Ashton 1 ; WAHL, Johniann 2 ; VASQUEZ, Jenny 1 ; WILMOT, Lily 1
Batting:
2B: Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Massa, Katelyn 1
HR: Decker, Kyleigh 1
RBI: Wood, Ashley 2 ; Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Wood, Ashley 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Boelens, Maris 1 ; Decker, Kyleigh 1
SB: Vermejan, Maddy 1
CS: Jansen, Jenny 1
Game Leaders
lf/rf
AB
3
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT/P
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC/DP
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballIF
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