By Anthony McDaniel – siusalukis.com
Pitching, defense and a big boost from the Saluki freshmen led SIU to an 8-0 win over Murray State on the final day of the Coach B Classic.
“Today we played very well in all phases of the game, Bri threw very well. Savannah Fisher had some great defensive plays and I thought we hit the ball very well,” head coach Kerri Blaylock said.
The game remained scoreless through two innings, but in the top of the third, the Saluki bats came alive. Freshman Jenny Jansen started things off with a one-out double. One batter later, an error by the Racer shortstop allowed Jansen to score and for sophomore Kyleigh Deckerto go to second. Two batters later, freshman Megan Brown hit a double to score Decker from second. Two batters later, senior Savannah Fisher singled with two on to score Brown from second. Sophomore Maddy Vermejan closed the scoring in the inning when she singled in a bases loaded situation to score freshman Shelby Hodo off of an error by the Racer short stop. Southern led 4-0 at the end of the third and never looked back.
An inning later, senior Sydney Jones hit a two out double. Her double was followed by a single from Brown that scored Jones from second.
Brown was pinch ran for by fellow freshman Maris Boelens, but Brown made a huge impact on the game in just four innings going 3-3 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. She hit .800 on the weekend with a double, 2 RBI and 2 walks.
Later in the fourth inning Hodo doubled to left center to score Boelens from second to make the score 6-0.
In the top of the sixth Boelens recorded a sacrifice RBI to the first baseman that scored Decker from third. Hodo recorded another RBI in the next at bat, this time off of a sacrifice fly to left to score senior Sydney Jones from third to make the score 8-0.
The Salukis freshmen combined to go 5-7 with five RBI, three doubles and four runs scored.
“We play a lot of freshmen and sophomore. They’re going to be a part of our lineup,” Baylock said. “It’s good to see them produce and get comfortable.”
While the Saluki offense wasn’t blowing up Racer pitching, starting pitcher Brianna Jones was keeping the Racer bats silent. She threw a six inning complete game allowing five hits striking out six and walking none. Jones improved to 8-1 on the season and has an ERA of 2.09.
The Saluki defense had its pitcher’s back throughout the whole game playing flawlessly in the game. Fisher led the way recording four assists at shortstop. Fisher committed two errors in a game against Michigan State on Feb. 18 and since has committed just one and recorded a total of 13 assists and 12 putouts.
“The thing about Fisher is the whole time last year at short stop she recorded five or six errors, which is just unreal for a college short stop,” Blaylock said. “We asked her to settle down and no matter what she’s doing at the plate, we want her to play great defense. Today was really something special out of her.”
With the win Southern improved to 9-8 on the season and won two of the last three following a tough start to the Coach B Classic on Friday. Blaylock said that she was pleased her team showed it can bounce back so well.
Overall, this year’s winner of the Coach B Classic was Illinois. The Illini won all five of its games. The weather gave the tournament a break providing clear skies and warm temperatures for early March.
“I love how well the tournament went,” Blaylock said. “When you get like this people want to come back and play here. I feel like our staff, facilities, our groundskeeper, everybody does such a great job and it makes people want to come here. It allows us to save money and gives our kids a chance to stay at home.”
The Salukis hit the road again this next weekend when they head to Tampa for the USF Under Armour Showcase hosted by South Florida. Southern will play five games throughout the weekend.
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