Southern Illinois University
10-2
SIUE
3-10
Salukis Take Down SIUE to go 4-0 at 2023 Coach B Classic
02/27/2023 | 10:51:00 | Softball
Carbondale, Ill. -Â The Southern Illinois Salukis finished the 2023 Coach B Classic with a 4-3 win over the SIUE Cougars Sunday evening. The Salukis finish the Coach B Classic with a 4-0 record at home to open the season at Charlotte West Stadium.Â
Rylie Hamilton hit her third home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning to give the Salukis a 1-0 lead. Hamilton leads SIU with three home runs and 12 RBIs through the first 12 games.
"I was pleased with us in a close game with SIUE. We needed a game where the offense had to adjust," explained head coach Jen Sewell. "It's the end of a long weekend of games. People have seen our pitching by Sunday and we can't overuse one pitcher so we needed them all to go and for the offense to step up."Â
After solid outings from all three Saluki pitchers on Saturday during a pair of 2-1 wins in the doubleheader against Northern Kentucky and DePaul - Elliott Stinson, Hannah Hockerman, and Madi Eberle all made appearances in Sunday's weekend finale.Â
Stinson started in the circle for SIU and held the Cougars hitless through the first three innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Hockerman replaced Stinson in the top half of the fourth with a 2-0 lead after Emma Austin singled and stole second and would later be brought across on an RBI-single from Jackie Lis.Â
The Cougars tied the game in the fourth inning after a throwing error from the Salukis giving SIUE the opportunity to advance and score their first run of the game. A few pitches later, a sac bunt down the first base line would tie the game at 2-2. Despite the one earned run, Hockerman gave up just two hits in three innings of work.Â
"SIUE forced us to adjust today. I wanted us to have some games where it didn't come easy, and we got that this weekend," said Sewell Sunday night. "We got a lot of people into the lineup today, which I liked. It had a conference game feel where we play one game and we can throw everything at that one game."
The game would remain tied until the bottom of the sixth inning where the Salukis would retake the lead on a 2-RBI double from Jenna Christeson. On a 2-2 count, Christeson roped a double to the wall in right center, scoring both Anna Carder and Aubree DePron.
"Proud of Jenna Christeson for getting that big hit," said coach Sewell. "We are finding ways to win. But we still need to learn from our wins. There are plenty of lessons to be learned. Adjusting on offense is one of them. The other is keeping our confidence in tight games. I want us to keep our 'Grrrr' about us even when the game is tight."
Madi Eberle would come in for the save in the seventh inning and held off the Cougars with a runner on third thanks to a nice play from Jackie Lis at shortstop to end the game.Â
Next up for the Salukis is another weekend at Charlotte West Stadium for the Saluki Invitational from March 3 - March 5. Southern will begin play on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader against Butler and UT Martin beginning at 2:30 PM. The Dawgs will play another doubleheader Saturday afternoon at 3 and 5:15 PM followed by the tournament finale on Sunday at 3 PM.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hockerman, Hannah (3-1)
L: Kelsey Ray (1-4)
S: Eberle, Madi (2)
Batting:
2B: Lexi King 2
RBI: Lexi King 1 ; Abby Braundmeier 1 ; Sherri Mason 1
SH: Lexi King 1 ; Emma Nueman 1 ; Sherri Mason 1 ; Micah Arps 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Paige Rocha 1 ; Lauren Yslava 1 ; Abby Braundmeier 1
Batting:
2B: Christeson, Jenna 1
HR: Hamilton, Rylie 1
RBI: Lis, Jackie 1 ; Hamilton, Rylie 1 ; Christeson, Jenna 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hamilton, Rylie 1 ; Carder, Anna 1 ; Austin, Emma 1 ; DePron, Aubree 1
SB: Austin, Emma 1 ; Scroggins, Chloe 1
