Friday, February 16
Leesburg, Fla.
1:30 PM / 2:30 ET
Southern Illinois University
5-2
4
vs
1
Iowa
3-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
4
5
2
Iowa Hawkeyes
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
4
Recap | Softball knocks off Big Ten Iowa, 4-1
02/16/2024 | 3:49:00 | Softball
LEESBURG, Fla. — Behind another superb pitching performance by Maddia Groff, Southern Illinois softball beat Iowa on Friday, 4-1, in game two of The Spring Games tournament.
A freshman left-hander, Groff (4-0) continues to shut down opposing hitters, allowing one run on four hits against the Hawkeyes (3-3). She struck out eight and walked one.
The only danger Groff encountered came in the fourth inning when she gave up three hits and one run before striking out two batters to end the inning. Groff retired 11 batters in a row to end the game.
Both Groff and Madi Eberle threw complete games today to help the Salukis pick up a pair of wins and improve to 5-2 on the year. Southern has given up more than five runs just once this year, including three games with one or fewer runs scored.
"Both [Madi and Maddia] were very good today at settling into the game. I know if you ask them both they probably have some things they didn't like about today which just speaks to their expectations when they pitch," said head coach Jen Sewell. "Both made really good adjustments through the middle and late parts of the game and both were efficient."
The Salukis (5-2) scored three unearned runs in the second inning, taking advantage of a couple Iowa errors and a pair of infield singles by Emma Austin and Bailey Caylor.
Southern added an insurance run in the seventh when Caylor led off with a double and came around to score on a Liz Warwick sacrifice fly. Warwick finished the day with three RBIs including a two-run double to walk-off UC Riverside in game one.
"Liz is just really experienced at those big moments," emphasized coach Sewell after the 2-0 day. "But by turning that lineup over we had just the right pieces that could get something going. Bailey and Katie started that rally. It's just people doing their job one assignment at a time. I liked us walking off that game and then coming right back on offense for the second game."
SIU improved to 4-4 all-time versus Iowa and beat a Power Five opponent for the first time since a 5-2 win over Kansas on Feb. 15, 2023.
The Salukis have three more Big Ten opponents left to play in The Spring Games, with matchups versus Illinois and Penn State on Saturday, and Ohio State on Sunday. Southern's games with Penn State and Illinois have both been moved up several hours due to pending weather. SIU and Illinois will now begin at 8:30 AM (CT) followed by an 11 AM (CT) first pitch with Penn State. All games can be streamed on FloSoftball.com.
A freshman left-hander, Groff (4-0) continues to shut down opposing hitters, allowing one run on four hits against the Hawkeyes (3-3). She struck out eight and walked one.
The only danger Groff encountered came in the fourth inning when she gave up three hits and one run before striking out two batters to end the inning. Groff retired 11 batters in a row to end the game.
Both Groff and Madi Eberle threw complete games today to help the Salukis pick up a pair of wins and improve to 5-2 on the year. Southern has given up more than five runs just once this year, including three games with one or fewer runs scored.
"Both [Madi and Maddia] were very good today at settling into the game. I know if you ask them both they probably have some things they didn't like about today which just speaks to their expectations when they pitch," said head coach Jen Sewell. "Both made really good adjustments through the middle and late parts of the game and both were efficient."
The Salukis (5-2) scored three unearned runs in the second inning, taking advantage of a couple Iowa errors and a pair of infield singles by Emma Austin and Bailey Caylor.
Southern added an insurance run in the seventh when Caylor led off with a double and came around to score on a Liz Warwick sacrifice fly. Warwick finished the day with three RBIs including a two-run double to walk-off UC Riverside in game one.
"Liz is just really experienced at those big moments," emphasized coach Sewell after the 2-0 day. "But by turning that lineup over we had just the right pieces that could get something going. Bailey and Katie started that rally. It's just people doing their job one assignment at a time. I liked us walking off that game and then coming right back on offense for the second game."
SIU improved to 4-4 all-time versus Iowa and beat a Power Five opponent for the first time since a 5-2 win over Kansas on Feb. 15, 2023.
The Salukis have three more Big Ten opponents left to play in The Spring Games, with matchups versus Illinois and Penn State on Saturday, and Ohio State on Sunday. Southern's games with Penn State and Illinois have both been moved up several hours due to pending weather. SIU and Illinois will now begin at 8:30 AM (CT) followed by an 11 AM (CT) first pitch with Penn State. All games can be streamed on FloSoftball.com.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Softball, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiSoftball and on Instagram at @SIU_Softball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Groff, Maddia (4-0)
L: Greer (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Caylor, Bailey 1
RBI: Warwick, Elizabeth 1 ; Austin, Emma 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knutson, Amanda 1 ; Christeson, Jenna 1 ; Austin, Emma 1 ; Caylor, Bailey 1
SB: Austin, Emma 2
HBP: Warwick, Elizabeth 1 ; Carder, Anna 1
Batting:
2B: Bowman 1
RBI: Bowman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bennett 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
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