Southern Illinois’ Season Ends in MVC Semifinals after 6-1 loss to No. 3 Murray State; Defeats No. 5 Illinois State, 1-0 (8), in Quarterfinals

Friday, May 8

Carbondale, Ill.

3 PM

Southern Illinois University

34-16

Illinois State

29-22

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

Southern Illinois’ Season Ends in MVC Semifinals after 6-1 loss to No. 3 Murray State; Defeats No. 5 Illinois State, 1-0 (8), in Quarterfinals

05/08/2026 | 10:54:00 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

By: Dominic Hoscher, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - On Friday, the No. 2 seeded Southern Illinois University softball team (34-17 overall, 21-6 MVC) saw its season come to an end after a 6-1 defeat in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals to No. 3 Murray State.

The Salukis advanced to the semifinals after winning, 1-0, in eight innings against No. 5 Illinois State in the quarterfinals.

MVC Quarterfinals: 1-0 (8) win vs. No. 5 Illinois State
Pitcher Hailey Lucas was a late addition to the starting lineup against Illinois State and got off to a strong start. Lucas ended each of her first three innings with strikeouts, keeping the Redbirds off the board.

Maleah Blomenkamp drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the third, but was stranded on base, keeping the score at 0-0.

In the top of the fourth, the Redbirds produced a pair of one-out baserunners after a single and an error. A pop up and a strikeout, however, got Lucas out of the inning unscathed.

The Salukis loaded the bases in the fourth inning after Hayden Kurtz, Sage Grann, and Mikaela Coburn reached. But with one out, a lineout turned into a double play for Illinois State, keeping the game scoreless.

It was Illinois State's turn to load the bases in the fifth after a pair of singles and a walk. Emily Delgado proceeded to escape the jam with a strikeout and a fly out.

Delgado held the Redbirds scoreless the rest of the way, giving SIU a chance to win it in the eighth.

After two strikeouts to begin the bottom of the eighth inning, Sydney Potter hit a double to right center. This set the stage for Kurtz with two outs.

In a 1-1 count, Kurtz came through with a walk-off single to score Potter and win the game, 1-0, in eight innings.

Coburn, Kurtz, and Emily Williams led the team with two hits each in the win. In the circle, Delgado improved to 11-5 after allowing just four hits, no runs, and one walk with two strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched. Lucas also tossed four scoreless innings with five hits allowed, no walks, and six strikeouts.

MVC Semifinals: 6-1 loss vs. No. 3 Murray State
It was a hot start for the Racers, tallying three runs in the top of the first to take an early lead. Two runs came around to score on a double with no outs in the inning. The third was on a two-out RBI single.

The Salukis got on the board in the bottom of the second after Williams hit a solo home run to center, making it 3-1. This was Williams' 16th home run of the season, one shy of tying the single-season program record.

Murray State had an immediate answer, hitting a solo home run of its own in the top of the third to make it 4-1.

The lead was extended to 5-1 in the fifth after another Murray State home run. One inning later, the Racers added on another to make it 6-1.

SIU was unable to record another run, leading to a 6-1 defeat in the semifinals.

Williams had both of the team's two hits to go along with the home run.

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