Recap | Salukis Squander Early Lead to No. 19 Mississippi State, Lose 10-3

Starkville, Miss. – After three days away from competition, Southern Illinois softball (1-5, 0-0) was back at Thursday evening, opening the 2025 Snowman: Alex Wilcox Memorial Tournament against the host school, No. 19 Mississippi State (5-1, 0-0). After the Salukis jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Bulldogs dropped 10 straight runs to win 10-3.

Inside the Box Score

Anna Carder and Haley Wilkerson collected SIU's two RBIs in the game.
In addition to Carder, Jackie Lis and Charley Pursley both had hits in the game.
Kaytee Dahlstrom threw two scoreless innings in relief while striking out two.

How it Happened
SIU had a hot start in the top of the first. Three straight walks filled the bags with Salukis before Carder drew another walk to push one run across home plate. An error by Mississippi State's second baseman scored another SIU run, and one more walk to Wilkerson gave Southern a 3-0 lead. Here is where the Bulldogs made a pitching change, and the Salukis could not score another run following the switch.

Mississippi State got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning. After a lineout to start the inning, a Bulldog homerun brought the score to 3-1. Two walks and a single loaded the bases, and a fielder's choice to Lis secured another run for Mississippi State. SIU was then able to record the third out, keeping the score at 3-2.

Following a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, the Bulldogs made some more noise in the bottom half. With a runner on third, a Mississippi State single tied the game at three runs apiece. After a SIU pitching change, another Bulldog single plated another run, giving the home squad a 4-3 lead.

Carder led off the third with a single, but SIU was not able to capitalize on it at all. Luckily, Southern's defense kept Mississippi State off the board in the bottom half of the inning.

The floodgates opened in the bottom of the fourth. With bases loaded and nobody out, a single scored the Bulldogs' fifth run of the day. After an infield fly, a sacrifice fly put another Mississippi State run on the board. Now with two runners in scoring position, a double scored another pair of Bulldog runs, giving Mississippi State a commanding 8-3 lead.

Another quiet inning from SIU's offense sent the game to the bottom of the fifth. With two runners on and one out, Emma Austin committed an error in center field that scored an unearned run, making it 9-3. Following a walk, a groundout to second put another Mississippi State run on the board, setting the score at 10-3. That would be the final run of the game, as the Bulldogs shut down the SIU offense for the final two innings.

Up Next
The Salukis are back in action tomorrow, Friday, with a doubleheader against North Texas and Georgia Tech. The North Texas game begins at 9 a.m. while first pitch versus Georgia Tech is set for 11:30 a.m.

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