Southern Illinois University
17-2
Samford University
9-12
Salukis bounce back with 3-0 win over Bulldogs
03/14/2021 | 3:56:00 | Softball
Carlee Jo Clark threw six scoreless innings and Sarah Harness struck out the three batters she faced to lead the Southern Illinois University softball team to a 3-0 win over the Samford Bulldogs Sunday to close out play at the Blazer Classic.
The Salukis got off to a fast start on Sunday with a three-run first inning to give Clark and Harness all the run support they needed.
Maddy Vermejan led off the top of the first with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and came around to score on a perfectly executed double steal that sent Jenny Jansen to second.Â
Tori Schullian brought Jansen around to score when she crushed her first career home run to put SIU ahead 3-0 and chase Samford starting pitcher Abby Swaney after just a third of an inning.
"It was a phenomenal pitching performance by Carlee Jo Clark when we needed her the most," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "Then Sarah Harness came in and closed out the game. Our offense jumped on Samford right from the start, Maddy Vermejan was the spark plug as always and Tori Schullian came up with a big hit when we needed it. I'm really proud of our kids."
The Bulldogs' sent the tying run to the plate with no outs in the seventh when Blaylock turned to Harness, who doused any chance of a Samford rally with three-straight strikeouts.
Clark was superb Sunday, as she scattered six hits- all singles- and worked her way around traffic on the base paths in four of the six innings in which she pitched. Harness threw a scoreless seventh to lock down her first save of the season.
And while Southern's school record 25-game win streak may have come to an end on Saturday, consider how rare back-to-back regular season losses have been for the Salukis as of late. Southern went 31-1 and 393 days between consecutive losses.
Southern's program record 16-0 start to the season is all the more impressive when you consider that SIU used a multitude of different lineups with a mix of seasoned veterans and relative newcomers. 11 of SIU's 19 players have played in fewer than 37 career games and Southern has, at times, started four freshmen this season. In fact, freshmen accounted for nearly a fourth (27-of-110) of SIU's hits and more than a fourth (25-of-89) of Southern's runs scored during its best-ever start. In the circle, Southern leads the MVC with a 1.66 ERA despite being comprised of three underclassmen with between 9-28 career appearances.
"What stands out the most to me is that we have 19 players- and 11 of them have played fewer than 37 career games," Blaylock said. "And when you look at and consider that, then you remember how we finished last season and started this season, that's what impressed me the most. We have some key veterans but we also have other kids that don't know what it is like to play a full Division I season much less lose multiple games in a row. We had to face adversity yesterday and we did that and then we came back today and played really well."
The Salukis were playing in their fourth game without 2019 MVC Freshman of the Year Ashley Wood, who suffered an injury on Friday. In a show of Southern's depth, the Saluki defense hasn't skipped a beat with Jenny Jansen and Jenna Christeson at shortstop. Prior to starting at shortstop in SIU's win over UAB on March 12, Jansen played shortstop in 17 games as a freshman but had seen action at short just once since May 12, 2018.Â
We lost Ashley on Friday and we don't know the extent of her injury yet," Blaylock said. "We put Jenny at short, where she hadn't played in two and a half years, and she did a great job. She played a little bit of third today as well. Our kids are just thinking 'next man up' right now. We had to face adversity yesterday, and while that will happen, I'm just proud of our kids for gathering themselves and getting the win today."
The Salukis are back at Charlotte West Stadium on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. tilt with the SEMO Redhawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Clark, Carlee Jo (4-0)
L: Swaney (4-4)
S: Harness, Sarah (1)
Batting:
HR: Schullian, Tori 1
RBI: Schullian, Tori 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Schullian, Tori 1
SB: Vermejan, Maddy 2 ; Jansen, Jenny 1
CS: Vermejan, Maddy 1
HBP: Vermejan, Maddy 1
