Southern Illinois Opens Up Month of May with Pair of Wins at UIC on Friday

Friday, May 1

Chicago, IL

2:30 PM

Southern Illinois University

31-15, 19-6

UIC

21-30-1, 10-16

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Ill.	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
Ill.-Chicago	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	1

Southern Illinois Opens Up Month of May with Pair of Wins at UIC on Friday

05/01/2026 | 10:41:00 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Dominic Hoscher, SIUSalukis.com

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University softball team (32-15 overall, 20-6 MVC) went 2-0 on Friday at UIC, defeating the Flames, 2-1, in game one and, 6-4, in game two.

With the two wins, Southern Illinois is now locked into the No. 2 seed for next week's Missouri Valley Conference tournament, which will be held in Carbondale. SIU's first game of the tourney will be on Thursday, May 7, at 3 p.m. The Salukis' opponent is to be determined.

Emily Williams led the way offensively in the doubleheader with four hits, one home run, three RBI, and two doubles. Maleah Blomenkamp went 3-for-6 with one walk, one run scored, and one RBI. Two other Salukis recorded multiple hits on Friday as Sydney Potter and Mikaela Coburn both tallied two hits each.

Brooklynn Danielson (10-1) started game one and went the distance, allowing just three hits, one run (zero earned), and no walks with three strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched. Both Hailey Lucas and Emily Delgado pitched in game two, with Delgado (10-4) earning the win.

Game One: 2-1 win at UIC
The Salukis won game one after scoring two runs on six hits with one error. Danielson opened up the contest with a 1-2-3 first inning.

Danielson retired the first six batters she faced, keeping the score at 0-0 through two frames.

In the top of the third, Southern Illinois tallied a pair of runs after back-to-back, two-out doubles. Amanda Knutson got it started with a double to left center that scored Jordan Stewart. One batter later, Williams hit an RBI double of her own to extend the lead to 2-0.

UIC didn't record a baserunner against Danielson until the bottom of the fourth after a lead-off single. The freshman proceeded to get out of the inning unscathed, keeping the advantage at two.

Southern produced a pair of two-out baserunners in the fifth after a Blomenkamp single and a Knutson walk, but a flyout ended the top of the inning.

The Flames plated their first run of the day in the bottom of the fifth after an error caused a run to score, making it a 2-1 game.

UIC went down in order in the sixth and recorded a one-out single in the seventh, but nothing more as Danielson finished off the 2-1 win with a pop up to second and a foul out to left.

Game Two: 6-4 win at UIC
In the second game of the day, Southern Illinois scored six runs on 10 hits with two errors.

Lucas got the start and recorded three-straight groundouts in the bottom of the first to answer UIC's scoreless inning with one of her own.

After SIU stranded two in the top of the second, the Flames hit a solo shot to begin the bottom half of the frame and take a 1-0 lead.

The Salukis didn't trail for long as Williams hit a two-run home run to right center to make it 2-1 in the third inning. The junior is now at 15 home runs and 55 RBI on the year, the second-most in a season in school history. Williams is two RBI away from tying the single-season program record of 57, which was set by Jackie Lis in 2023.

Delgado replaced Lucas with one out and one on in the bottom of the third. The junior proceeded to get out of the inning after producing two consecutive groundouts.

Southern Illinois' advantage was increased to 6-1 after a four-run fifth inning. Two runs scored after UIC's left fielder misplayed a ball off the bat of Sage Grann, leading to pinch runners Brooklyn Pritchett and Sarah Cook crossing home plate. Erin Lee hit an RBI single to bring home Grann, then Blomenkamp hit a sacrifice fly to score Coburn, making it 6-1.

UIC struck for two runs in the fifth and one in the seventh, but it wasn't enough as SIU secured the 6-4 win.

Up Next
The Salukis will finish off the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. against UIC.

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