Southern Illinois University
Appalachian St.
Salukis Split Doubleheader on Day Two of MTSU Invite
03/10/2023 | 5:04:00 | Softball
Carbondale, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Salukis split its doubleheader that began early Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the Appalachian State Mountaineers before playing Western Illinois right after.
The Salukis jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against App State on a two-run home run from Elizabeth Warwick. Warwick's home run was her first of the season as she currently has a .500 on-base percentage with 18 hits and 15 runs for the Salukis.
App State put up five runs in the second inning on three hits and got out to a 5-2 lead. After the Mountaineers big second inning, neither side was able to get anything going offensively. Madi Eberle came into the circle in the third inning for SIU and shut down App State for the remainder of the game.
Through 4.2 innings of work, Eberle gave up just two hits and no walks - both of which came in the third inning as she finished the game with four strikeouts and zero earned runs allowed.
"The pitchers duel in the first game didn't go our way. We need to go back and look at the film on that and make some little adjustments to some pitches," said head coach Jen Sewell following the doubleheader. "We hit the ball way better than it looked on paper but with the wind blowing in in that first game we needed to adjust and get the ball out of the air."
The 5-2 loss was the Salukis first since the Puerto Vallarta Challenge as they had previously won 10 straight.
The Dawgs were able to bounce back and find their way back into the win column immediately following the loss with a 8-0 win over Western Illinois in five innings. Southern Illinois totaled a season-high 13 hits despite playing just five innings.
Emma Austin went 4-for-4 with two runs, including a leadoff triple in the first inning. She now has five triples on the season which leads the Missouri Valley. Jackie Lis was also perfect at the plate going 3-for-3 with a double and a pair of RBIs as Rylie Hamilton also had a pair of RBIs as well as going 2-for-3 with a triple. Aubree DePron recorded a pair of singles going 2-for-4 as her and Emma Austin were the only two Salukis to record a hit in each game today.
Hannah Hockerman made the start in the circle for SIU and threw a five inning complete game shutout. Hockerman allowed just two hits and no walks with three strikeouts on her way to the win.
"The bounce back in the second game was impressive," said Sewell after the win. "This team knows to get right back on the horse and get to work. Hannah Hockerman was really good in the second game. She went out and did exactly what we asked."
Up next for the Salukis is a 10 AM start against Green Bay for their fourth and final game at the MTSU Invite.
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