Southern Illinois University
24-18-1, 13-10
University of Evansville
23-23, 8-15
Salukis complete sweep of Aces
05/01/2022 | 5:34:00 | Softball
The Southern Illinois University softball team swept its Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader from the Evansville Purple Aces on Sunday, May 1. The Salukis took game one of the day, 6-0 behind a five-hitter from Madi Eberle and completed the sweep of the Aces with a 5-0 win in the nightcap.
"It was one of our best wire-to-wire three-game series in quite a while," Interim head coach Jen Sewell said. "Evansville played us hard and they hit the ball hard but we did everything well this weekend- hitting, pitching and defense. Whenever they tried to seize momentum we shut it down and I thought that was impressive."
The Salukis scored six unanswered runs in the opener and Eberle took care of the rest. In the series finale, Southern scored at least one run in each inning after the third and Eberle and Sarah Harness combined for SIU's sixth shutout of the season. Evansville had only been shut out four times prior to SIU shutting them out in back-to-back games.
Southern's offense fired on all cylinders on Sunday. The Salukis outscored the Aces, 11-0 in the twin bill and finished with 20 hits and five walks. The Salukis were equally as impressive in the circle, led by Eberle. The Gibson City, Ill. native improved to 7-8 on the season after she threw 12 consecutive scoreless innings and allowed just nine hits to go along with four strikeouts. Harness threw two innings of scoreless relief to help SIU lock down the sweep.
"Madi pitched really well to contact without leaving a ton of pitches over the plate," Sewell said. "We were ready to go defensively behind her and she also didn't run her pitch count very high. We hate to stop Madi when she gets off to a good start like she did so with the way the second game worked out we just let her keep going into game three. I was super impressed with how she didn't throw a ton of different pitches but threw the pitches she did throw well."
SIU scored at least one run in each of the first four innings of the day's first game, which actually happened last night before the rain suspended play. A sacrifice fly from Rylie Hamilton got Southern on the board in the top of the first and Elisabeth Huckleberry added to SIU's lead with a RBI-single later in the frame.
In the second inning, Emma Austin made it 3-0 with an infield single that scored Chloe Scroggins. RBI-singles from Tori Schullian and Sidney Sikes in the third pushed Southern's lead to five and Jenny Jansen's eighth home run of the season in the fourth inning put SIU ahead 6-0.
Seven Salukis recorded a hit in SIU's 6-0 win. Jansen went 2-for-4 with a home run and a RBI while Austin was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI. Sikes also went 2-for-3 with a RBI.Â
Eberle earned her first win of the day after she allowed just five hits over seven innings.
In the nightcap, Eberle returned to the circle with similar results. She held the Aces at bay and Southern broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Ashley Wood and Elizabeth Warwick notched back-to-back singles to leadoff the frame and Huckleberry brought in Wood with a sacrifice fly.
Southern added to its lead the next inning, as Jenny Jansen socked a one-out double and Austin brought her in to score with a single. In the sixth, Huckleberry hit her second home run in her last three games to push SIU's advantage to 3-0 and a RBI-single by Bailey Caylor put Southern ahead 4-0. The Salukis plated their final run of the game on a RBI-single by Warwick in the seventh.
All nine Saluki starters reached base at least once in the win. Wood went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Warwick was 2-for-4 with a RBI.
"I could tell Evansville made some adjustments and it took us a minute to understand that they were trying to keep us on the ground and stop us from leaving the park," Sewell said. "Their lefty, Sydney Weatherford, did a good job keeping us on the ground. It took us a minute to figure out how to get the ball out of the infield and elevated but once we did it started going. It was nice to see us get going from the top of our lineup to the bottom."
Eberle got the win in the nightcap, as she went five innings and allowed just four hits with two strikeouts.
The Salukis will close out the 2022 regular season next weekend when they host the Illinois State Redbirds. First pitch of Friday's doubleheader is set for Noon. Saturday's game will serve as Senior Day and the Salukis will honor their four seniors, Danyelle Eilers, Jenny Jansen, Sidney Sikes and Ashley Wood, during a ceremony after the game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eberle, Madi (6-8)
L: Weatherford, Sydney (8-8)
Batting:
2B: Hamilton, Rylie 1
HR: Jansen, Jenny 1
RBI: Jansen, Jenny 1 ; Austin, Emma 1 ; Hamilton, Rylie 1 ; Huckleberry, Elisabeth 1 ; Schullian, Tori 1 ; Sikes, Sidney 1
SF: Hamilton, Rylie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jansen, Jenny 2 ; Austin, Emma 1 ; Hamilton, Rylie 1 ; DePron, Aubree 1 ; Scroggins, Chloe 1
SB: DePron, Aubree 1
Base Running:
HBP: Nink, Jenna 1
