Southern Illinois University
12-12, 2-4
Loyola University Chicago
8-13, 2-2
Salukis clinch series win over Ramblers with doubleheader sweep
03/26/2022 | 7:09:00 | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University softball team swept its Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader from the Loyola Ramblers on Saturday, March 26. The Salukis downed the Ramblers, 8-1 in the opener and followed with a 4-1 victory in the nightcap.
We've been trying to play well in all three facets of the game and we were able to do that today," Interim head coach Jen Sewell said. "We really didn't let (Loyola) get anything going and I think that is key for us. If we can keep momentum on our side, with our pitching, defense and offense we are probably going to win the game."
The Salukis won game one after it scored at least one run in four of six innings to back a complete game in the circle from Sarah Harness. In game two, Southern used a three-hitter from Madi Eberle and a three-run fourth inning to clinch its first MVC series win of the season.
Southern fired on all cylinders on Saturday. The Salukis outscored the Ramblers, 12-2 in the twinbill and finished with 15 hits, six walks, and three hit by pitches. SIU committed just one error defensively and tallied several highlight worthy plays in the field, while the combination of Harness and Eberle held the Ramblers to two runs on 11 hits in 14 innings with seven strikeouts to just three walks.
"We got back to work this past week," Sewell said. "The SEMO cancellation wasn't ideal but it allowed us to work in the bullpen and really hone in on where we were getting behind. I thought we needed to go back to pitching more aggressively. When we went to the mound today, we just reminded our pitchers to attack and to pitch offensively rather than defensively."
SIU plated the first run of game one on a two-out double by Rylie Hamilton. Southern added to its lead in the bottom of the second, as Bailey Caylor singled and Elizabeth Warwick hit a two-run home run to left. Loyola threatened in the fourth after it put runners on the corner with one out. The Ramblers attempted a double steal on the first pitch to Jocelyn Currie in the fourth inning but Southern chased them back to their bags and no one advanced. The Ramblers again tried the double steal on the next pitch, and Southern's defense executed a flawless rundown play to nab both runners and get out of the inning.
The Salukis pushed their lead to four in the bottom of the fourth on a bunt single by Emma Austin that brought around Caylor from second. The Ramblers used their only extra base hit of the day- a solo home run by Haley Wallace- to break the shutout in the top of the sixth but the Salukis answered with four runs of their own in the home half of the frame, highlighted by Warwick's second home run of the game.
Eight starters reached base at least once in SIU's game one win. Warwick was 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI. It marked the 44th time in program history that a Saluki has hit two home runs in the same game. Hamilton was 2-for-4 with a career-high tying 3 RBI in the win.
Harness evened her record at 7-7 after she threw all seven innings and allowed just one earned run on eight hits (7 singles // 1 solo home run). She walked only one and struck out four.
In game two, Southern scored three in the fourth and added a run in the fifth to give Eberle more than enough run support to seal a 4-1 win.
Southern opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth after it used three singles, two walks and a sacrifice to push across three runs. The Salukis added to their lead with a run in the fifth on a RBI-single from Jansen.
Loyola took a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the second but after that could get nothing going off Eberle. The sophomore from Gibson City, Ill. allowed just two base runners to reach safely after the second inning, both of which reached by walk.
Eberle improved to 4-5 in the circle this season after she allowed just one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Five hitters tallied a hit in the nightcap, which included Hamilton's second multi-hit game of the afternoon. The sophomore third baseman, who also made a sliding play in foul ground to steal a hit away from the Ramblers in the fourth inning, was 2-for-3 with a run scored. On the day, Hamilton was 4-for-7 with a double and 3 RBI and she now has 12 multi-hit games in 24 games played this season.
"Its very easy to go get a hit, stick it in your pocket and go back to the dugout and say 'I've done my job'," Sewell said. "Rylie comes up with two or three hits a game all the time and it will be on a pitch that you won't even think like an 0-2 rise ball or a 1-2 changeup. She can get her bat anywhere. She's matured so much at the plate especially in her approach. She also believes that she is going to hit something hard every time."
The Salukis will go for their second-straight three-game sweep of the Ramblers when the two teams tangle tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Harness, Sarah (7-7)
L: Pepkowski, Peyton (6-4)
Batting:
HR: Wallace, Haley 1
RBI: Wallace, Haley 1
SH: Boysen, Tori 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wallace, Haley 1
SB: Bieneman, Ava 1
CS: Wallace, Haley 1 ; Sopczak, Teagan 1
Batting:
2B: Wood, Ashley 1 ; Hamilton, Rylie 1
HR: Warwick, Elizabeth 2
RBI: Hamilton, Rylie 3 ; Sikes, Sidney 1 ; Warwick, Elizabeth 3 ; Austin, Emma 1
SF: Sikes, Sidney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wood, Ashley 1 ; DePron, Aubree 1 ; Jansen, Jenny 1 ; McGahey, Reagan 1 ; Caylor, Bailey 2 ; Warwick, Elizabeth 2
SB: Caylor, Bailey 1 ; Austin, Emma 1
CS: Scroggins, Chloe 1
HBP: Sikes, Sidney 2
