Southern Illinois University
6-0
Stephen F. Austin
0-5
Salukis improve to 6-0 with 5-4 win over Ladyjacks
02/22/2021 | 7:34:00 | Softball
Southern has now won 15-straight games after it went 3-0 at The Snowman: Alex Wilcox Memorial Tournament
The Southern Illinois University softball team improved to 6-0 on the season with a 5-4 win over the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Monday.Â
After Stephen F. Austin scored a run in the top of the first, Southern answered with a three-spot in the bottom half of the frame and tacked on a run in the third and sixth innings. The Ladyjacks scored three in the top of the seventh and sent the winning run to the plate, but Sarah Harness worked her way out of the jam to secure SIU's 15th-straight win.
"After the game, the whole team looked at me and I could tell they were disappointed with themselves with how they played at times and I told them, 'look we still got a win," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "Thats a good thing. We're going to hopefully continue to get better and better as the season progresses."
Carlee Jo Clark came on in relief of Madi Eberle in the top of the first and threw five scoreless innings. She scattered just three hits- two singles and a double during her five innings of work to earn her second win in the circle in as many days. The sophomore from Carol Stream, Ill. extended her scoreless inning streak to 24 innings with the win on Monday.Â
"Carlee Jo is throwing with a lot of confidence," Blaylock said. "She's pitching with great command and looks very composed on the mound, even after hits. She looks like she knows what she's doing out there and we were able to get her a good lead to work with today."
Eight different Salukis reached base in the win over the Ladyjacks and Southern's depth was a huge advantage for it all weekend as contributions came from through its lineup in all three of its wins in Hattiesburg. The Salukis had nine different players record hits over the weekend, which included six with multiple base knocks. The top of SIU's lineup was the straw that stirred the drink on Monday, as Southern's 1-4 hitters went a combined 5-for-13 with three walks and three runs scored.Â
"Our offense has been doing well and it has been coming from all different places, which is a good thing," Blaylock said. "We've got spark plugs off the bench, we are able to utilize a lot of our depth and we just need to keep moving from one game to the next game to the next. We don't need to look too far in advance and we don't need to get too far ahead of ourselves."
Three of the first four hitters for Stephen F. Austin came through with base hits to stake the Ladyjacks to an early 1-0 lead and chase Eberle. Southern loaded the bases in the bottom half of the first as Bailey Caylor roped a double, Jenny Jansen moved her to third with a single and Ashley Wood worked a four-pitch walk. Tori Schullian followed with a full-count walk to tie the game at 1-all. Massa and Huckleberry followed with walks to push two more across in the frame.
After Clark threw a pair of scoreless innings, SIU's speed forced Stephen F. Austin's defense into a miscue. Schullian clubbed a one-out single and pinch runner Aubree DePron promptly stole second. After the Ladyjacks recorded the second out in the frame, DePron swiped third and Sidney Sikes reached on a hit by pitch. From there, Sikes broke for second, which forced a throw from Stephen F. Austin's catcher that allowed DePron to score on the throw and push SIU's lead to 4-1.Â
Harness came on in relief of Clark in the sixth and got two big strikeouts to get Southern out of a bases loaded jam. Maris Boelens then led off with a double, moved to third on a fly out and came around to score on single by Maddy Vermejan.
The Ladyjacks caught two-out lightning in the top of the seventh, as they plated three runs with two outs and sent the winning run to the plate, but Harness bared down and got the strikeout she needed to seal the win.
The Salukis, who were playing in their third game in 18 or so hours after getting done close to 11 p.m. the night before, made a pair of uncharacteristic fielding errors against the Ladyjacks but were able to still come away with the victory.
"We used a lot of the gas that was in our tank in the win over Mississippi State and I think that's why our last two games were a little sloppy," Blaylock said. "We weren't so much as physically tired as we were probably a little mentally fatigued. We talked about how we need to be better in that area going forward."
MVC Player of the Week Maddy Vermejan went 1-for-3 with a walk and a RBI. Jansen was 2-for-4 with a run scored while Schullian was 1-for-1 with a RBI.Â
The Salukis open the home portion of their 2021 schedule when they host the Coach B Classic, beginning Friday, Feb. 26. The three-day event features DePaul, St. Louis, Ball State and Austin Peay.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Clark, Carlee Jo (2-0)
L: Govan, Shayl (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Govan, Shayl 1 ; Garcia, Gaby 1 ; Dubose, Alex 1
RBI: Garcia, Gaby 2 ; Medeiros, Si 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hedspeth, Al 1 ; Novegil, Bry 1 ; Wallace, Kay 1 ; Garcia, Gaby 1
SB: Hedspeth, Al 1
HBP: Bennett, Mac 1 ; Nguyen, Madi 1
Batting:
2B: Caylor, Bailey 1 ; Boelens, Maris 1
RBI: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Schullian, Tori 1 ; Massa, Katelyn 1 ; Huckleberry, Elisabeth 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Caylor, Bailey 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Wood, Ashley 1 ; DePron, Aubree 1 ; Boelens, Maris 1
SB: Jansen, Jenny 1 ; DePron, Aubree 2 ; Sikes, Sidney 1
CS: Vermejan, Maddy 1
HBP: Sikes, Sidney 1
