Sunday, February 23
Fort Myers, Fla.
9 a.m. ET
Southern Illinois University
6-6
1
vs
2
UMass Lowell
4-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UMass Lowell
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
8
0
Southern Illinois
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
3
Photo by: Will Becque
Softball drops 2-1 heartbreaker in extras to UML
02/23/2020 | 1:20:00 | Softball
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Southern Illinois softball program dropped a 2-1 decision in nine innings to UMass Lowell on Sunday morning in its final game at the FGCU Classic.
The Salukis (6-6) were one out away from its seventh-straight win in the bottom of the seventh, but ULM hitter Marianne Sparacia singled through the right side to score the game-tying run from second.
"We didn't hit the ball well and had three errors on defense, which was very uncharacteristic," 21st-year head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "The bright spot was Carlee Jo Clark. She threw a great game and was in command throughout."
Starting pitcher Carlee Jo Clark had a strong outing in the circle, as she pitched the first 6.1 innings and allowed just five hits and two walks. The freshman also struck out a career-high four batters and induced 10 groundouts. She worked around a season-high three errors committed by the Saluki defense.
Another freshman, Sarah Harness (4-4), came in relief for Clark with the game tied, 1-1. She pitched the final two outs of the seventh, along with the eighth and ninth inning. Harness was tagged with her first loss in three appearances this weekend. The Bowling Green, Mo. native stranded runners on first and third to keep UML off the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, but Courtney Cashman tacked the game-winning RBI off Harness in the ninth.
"We had two freshman throw in a tight game against a good team," Blaylock said. "I thought they both did tremendous."
The Salukis could only garner three hits against winning pitcher Lovina Capria. Two of SIU's hits came in the top of the third, where they jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Susie Baranski started it off with a bunt single, but was retired at second on a fielders choice groundout. Maddy Vermejan reached on the fielders choice, stole second and came around to score off a double to deep center field by Jenny Jansen. The sophomore, Jansen, tallied an RBI-double in three of the four games this weekend.
"Jenny did a great job of squaring up the ball and hitting it well," Blaylock said. "She has been coming on lately. We just need to get some more of our batters going."
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, SIU had an opportunity to tie the game with Baranski on third with one out. However, SIU's next two batters were retired on a shallow flyout and pop-up.
Southern heads back to Carbondale, Ill. for a nine-game homestead at Charlotte West Stadium. The Salukis will host the Coach B Classic next weekend (Feb. 28 - March 1), followed by the Saluki Invitational (March 6-8).
"I told the team our focus is to continue to work and improve," Blaylock said. "We have two good weekends before the start of conference play. Nine games can do a lot for us."
Other notes: Coach Blaylock is one win shy of 700 for her career … Baranski has hit safely in six of the last seven games … Jansen has record one or more RBI in five of the last seven games … Harness has allowed one earned run in five-straight appearances … Harness combined for 23 strikeouts over three appearances this weekend.
The Salukis (6-6) were one out away from its seventh-straight win in the bottom of the seventh, but ULM hitter Marianne Sparacia singled through the right side to score the game-tying run from second.
"We didn't hit the ball well and had three errors on defense, which was very uncharacteristic," 21st-year head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "The bright spot was Carlee Jo Clark. She threw a great game and was in command throughout."
Starting pitcher Carlee Jo Clark had a strong outing in the circle, as she pitched the first 6.1 innings and allowed just five hits and two walks. The freshman also struck out a career-high four batters and induced 10 groundouts. She worked around a season-high three errors committed by the Saluki defense.
Another freshman, Sarah Harness (4-4), came in relief for Clark with the game tied, 1-1. She pitched the final two outs of the seventh, along with the eighth and ninth inning. Harness was tagged with her first loss in three appearances this weekend. The Bowling Green, Mo. native stranded runners on first and third to keep UML off the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, but Courtney Cashman tacked the game-winning RBI off Harness in the ninth.
"We had two freshman throw in a tight game against a good team," Blaylock said. "I thought they both did tremendous."
The Salukis could only garner three hits against winning pitcher Lovina Capria. Two of SIU's hits came in the top of the third, where they jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Susie Baranski started it off with a bunt single, but was retired at second on a fielders choice groundout. Maddy Vermejan reached on the fielders choice, stole second and came around to score off a double to deep center field by Jenny Jansen. The sophomore, Jansen, tallied an RBI-double in three of the four games this weekend.
"Jenny did a great job of squaring up the ball and hitting it well," Blaylock said. "She has been coming on lately. We just need to get some more of our batters going."
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, SIU had an opportunity to tie the game with Baranski on third with one out. However, SIU's next two batters were retired on a shallow flyout and pop-up.
Southern heads back to Carbondale, Ill. for a nine-game homestead at Charlotte West Stadium. The Salukis will host the Coach B Classic next weekend (Feb. 28 - March 1), followed by the Saluki Invitational (March 6-8).
"I told the team our focus is to continue to work and improve," Blaylock said. "We have two good weekends before the start of conference play. Nine games can do a lot for us."
Other notes: Coach Blaylock is one win shy of 700 for her career … Baranski has hit safely in six of the last seven games … Jansen has record one or more RBI in five of the last seven games … Harness has allowed one earned run in five-straight appearances … Harness combined for 23 strikeouts over three appearances this weekend.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: CAPRIA, Lovina (4-0)
L: Harness, Sarah (4-4)
Batting:
2B: CASHMAN, Courtney 1 ; SITEMAN, Sara 1
RBI: CASHMAN, Courtney 1 ; SPARACIA, Marianne 1
SH: MUELLER, Tori 1 ; LABBE, Olivia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MUELLER, Tori 1 ; LABBE, Olivia 1
PO: CASHMAN, Courtney 1
Batting:
2B: Jansen, Jenny 1
RBI: Jansen, Jenny 1
SH: Vermejan, Maddy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vermejan, Maddy 1
SB: Vermejan, Maddy 1
HBP: Vermejan, Maddy 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
lf/rf
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P/IF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ SoftballINF
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