No. 2 Softball Falls, 6-5 (9), in Heartbreaker to No. 3 Murray State

Thursday, May 7

Carbondale, Ill.

3 PM

Southern Illinois University

33-16

Murray State

28-21

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Murray St.	0	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	8	0
Southern Ill.	1	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	5	9	0

No. 2 Softball Falls, 6-5 (9), in Heartbreaker to No. 3 Murray State

05/07/2026 | 8:50:00 | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Dominic Hoscher, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The No. 2 seeded Southern Illinois University softball team (33-16 overall, 21-6 MVC) fell, 6-5, in nine innings to No. 3 seed Murray State in its first game of the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Southern Illinois will now face either No. 4 Northern Iowa or No. 5 Illinois State in an elimination game on Friday, May 8, at 3 p.m.

The Salukis out-hit the Racers, 9-8, in the loss while neither team committed an error.

Southern trailed, 5-3, entering the seventh but with one out and one runner on, Sydney Potter tied the game with a two-run home run to send the game to extra innings. The home run was Potter's 17th of the season, which ties the single-season home run record for Southern Illinois.

Amanda Knutson had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, two runs scored, and two RBI. Maleah Blomenkamp was second on the team with two hits on Thursday.

Three pitchers appeared for SIU in the loss. Brooklynn Danielson got the start and went 2.2 innings before being replaced by Hailey Lucas. Emily Delgado came in for Lucas after the freshman tossed 1.1 innings pitched. Delgado posted a line of 5.0 innings pitched, four hits, one run, one walk, and eight strikeouts out of the bullpen.

Danielson recorded three strikeouts in the top of the first before SIU took an early lead in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Knutson hit an RBI double to left center to score Blomenkamp and give Southern Illinois a 1-0 lead. The Salukis had a chance to strike for more as they loaded the bases after the double, but a strikeout ended the inning with the hosts up by one.

Murray State started off the second with a solo home run, tying the game at 1-1.

Southern Illinois restored its lead in the bottom of the second with more two-out production. Hayden Kurtz hit an RBI single to score Erin Lee and give SIU a 2-1 advantage.

Both teams continued to trade blows as Murray State went ahead with a three-run third inning. All three runs came on a two-out home run to left center, making it 4-2. The Racers added on another in the fourth to extend the lead to 5-2.

The Salukis cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run by Knutson, her eighth of the season.

Delgado limited the Racers to just two baserunners in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings and struck out the side in the seventh, keeping the score at 5-3.

In the bottom of the inning, Knutson got on with a one-out single. The next batter was Potter who, in a 1-1 count, tied the game with a two-run home run to make it 5-5. The junior tied Emily Williams (2025) and Jackie Lis (2023) for the most home runs in a single-season in program history with her 17th of the year.

Neither team was able to score in the eighth, leading to the score being 5-5 entering the ninth. There, Murray State took the lead with a two-out single. Delgado struck out the next batter she faced to send the game to the bottom of the ninth with SIU trailing, 6-5.

Southern produced a two-out baserunner after Sage Grann was hit by a pitch, but a strikeout finished off the game and Murray State's 6-5 win.

Up Next
Southern Illinois will turn its attention to an elimination game on Friday at 3 p.m. against the winner of No. 4 Northern Iowa and No. 5 Illinois State.

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