Recap | Salukis Blank Belmont, 3-0, to Earn Series Win in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In an all-around strong performance on Saturday, the Southern Illinois University softball team (18-15, 10-1) shut-out Belmont, 3-0, to win the series, 2-1, on the road.

"We made some really good adjustments and people really paid attention and honed in," head coach Jen Sewell said. "Our goal was to take the strikeouts (had 13 last night) and cut them in half (had five today) and put those six or seven more balls in play and I think we did that. I could instantly tell one time through the lineup that we had it and we were working the plan."

Inside the Box Score

The Salukis scored three runs on five hits with no errors in the 3-0 victory. Belmont had just two hits on Saturday.
McKenzie Newcomb (11-5) picked up the win after allowing two hits, two walks, with two strikeouts across 5.1 scoreless innings. Emma Gipson was effective early, finishing with a line of no hits, no runs, one walk, and one strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched.
Anna Carder led SIU offensively as the catcher went 2-3 with one run scored and one RBI. Jackie Lis and Addi Baker scored the team's other two runs, while Emily Williams and Amanda Knutson had the other two RBI.

How it Happened

Southern Illinois got off to a good start in the circle on Saturday as Gipson retired the first three batters she faced in the opening inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the second, Gipson was replaced by Newcomb who stranded one Bruin on base to end the inning.

In the circle for Belmont was Maya Johnson for the second straight game. Johnson had allowed just nine runs across 19 appearances prior to Saturday. But in the third inning, the top of the SIU lineup had an answer for the Bruins' ace.

With two outs in the third, Lis got on with a single to third base. One batter later, Carder doubled to left center to put the Salukis ahead, 1-0. Williams continued the two-out success for Southern with an RBI single to give SIU a 2-0 advantage.

Newcomb allowed just one Bruin to reach in both the third and fourth innings before firing a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth to keep the Salukis ahead by two.

The senior righty allowed a one-out walk in the bottom of the sixth, but retired the next two batters that came to the plate to get out of the inning unscathed.

Southern Illinois got an insurance run off the bat of Knutson in the top of the seventh. The third baseman tripled to right center, scoring Baker to make it a 3-0 lead for the Salukis.

Belmont got a lead-off single to begin the bottom of the inning, but Newcomb proceeded to record a strikeout, foul out, and fly out to end the game and secure the 3-0 Southern win.

With the win, Southern Illinois moved to 10-1 in conference play and 18-15 overall and are in first place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

Up Next
After a road trip that saw the Salukis go 5-1, Southern Illinois will return home next weekend to host Indiana State, with game one scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 4, at Charlotte West Stadium.

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