Southern Illinois University
19-2, 1-0
Drake University
4-14, 0-1
Salukis split doubleheader with Bulldogs
03/20/2021 | 7:31:00 | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University softball team split its Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader with the Drake Bulldogs on Saturday, March 20. The Salukis run-ruled the Bulldogs, 10-2 in six innings in the opener before Drake held off SIU to take game two, 7-6.
Southern's six-inning victory over Drake was its first run-rule win over the Bulldogs since 2014. Southern's loss in the nightcap, however, snapped its 22-game home win streak and was its first loss at Charlotte West Stadium since May 4, 2019.
"We got it rolling offensively in the first game," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We started slow offensively in both games but we got it going towards the end. Sarah did a great job in the first game in the circle. Give credit to Drake- they jumped on the ball, especially in the second game. We were able to settle in and hold them and get ourselves close enough where we had a chance to win late in game two."
In the first game, Southern fell behind 1-0 but responded with multiple runs in three of the final four innings, which included a five-run sixth that brought the game to an early conclusion.
After starting pitcher Sarah Harness blanked the Bulldogs in the top of the third, Southern manufactured a pair of runs to take back the lead. Bailey Caylor led off with a walk, Maddy Vermejan pushed her to second with a perfectly placed bunt single and Jenny Jansen loaded the bases with an infield single of her own. Tori Schullian and Elizabeth Warwick both worked back-to-back bases loaded walks to give SIU a 2-1 lead.
Southern added to its advantage in the bottom of the fifth, as Warwick hit her first career home run- a three-run shot to right field- to push SIU's lead to 5-1.
"The pitch was on the middle inside of the plate and I just gripped it and ripped it," Warwick said of her home run. "It was one of those hits where I didn't even feel it- the ball just went."
The Bulldogs got a run back with one out in the sixth, but Harness got out of a two-on, one-out jam to limit the damage. The Saluki offense fired on all cylinders in the bottom half of the sixth, as Southern sent eight batters to the dish and tallied three walks to go along with four singles. Sidney Sikes came through with a two-run, walk-off single to give SIU a win in its conference opener.
Harness went the distance in the circle to improve to 9-1 on the season. She allowed one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
Six Salukis recorded a hit in the opener, which included multi-hit games from Jansen (2-for-3) and Warwick (2-for-3, HR, 4 RBIs). Southern also drew 10 walks, which marked the second time already this season that SIU has tallied double-digit free passes.
In the nightcap, Drake got out to a 4-0 lead after two and a half innings of play. Southern cut its deficit in half with a two-run third, but the Bulldogs added two runs in the fourth and another run in the fifth to go ahead 7-2.
Southern mounted a furious rally in the sixth. Aubree DePron reached on an infield single and Vermejan worked a two-out walk. Boelens followed with an infield base hit to load the bases for Jansen, who crushed the first pitch she saw over the fence in left to get SIU to within one, 7-6.
After Madi Eberle re-entered in the circle to help Southern work around a leadoff double to get out of the seventh unscathed, Elisabeth Huckleberry gave SIU life in the bottom half of the frame with a one-out double. Sikes singled to move Huckleberry to third and Schullian drew a full-count walk to load the bases with one out. The Salukis, however, could not push across a run and the Bulldogs got the two outs they needed to seal the win.
"If you play conference season different than you do non-conference games, you're going to have different results," Blaylock said. "So if you're a little bit more shaky then you're going to get those types of results. We were shaky in the middle innings and those were the results we got. We settled down at the end and that was better."
At the plate, Boelens went 2-for-3 with a run scored and was one of eight different Salukis to record a hit in game two.
The rubber match between the Salukis and the Bulldogs is slated for Sunday at 11 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Harness, Sarah (9-1)
L: Timmons,Nicole (2-6)
Batting:
HR: Valtman,Emily 1
RBI: Taylor,Delaney 1 ; Valtman,Emily 1
SH: Anderson,Laura 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson,Macy 1 ; Valtman,Emily 1
SB: Johnson,Macy 2
Batting:
HR: Warwick, Elizabeth 1
RBI: Massa, Katelyn 2 ; Schullian, Tori 1 ; Warwick, Elizabeth 4 ; Sikes, Sidney 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Vermejan, Maddy 2 ; Boelens, Maris 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 2 ; DePron, Aubree 1 ; Warwick, Elizabeth 2 ; Huckleberry, Elisabeth 1 ; Caylor, Bailey 1
SB: Vermejan, Maddy 1 ; DePron, Aubree 1
CS: Eilers, Danyelle 1
HBP: Sikes, Sidney 1
