Southern Illinois vs. Northern Colorado | Puerto Vallarta College Challenge
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico - The Southern Illinois University softball team pounded out a season-high 11 hits and Claire Miller and Brianna Jones combined to throw a two-hit shutout as the Salukis won their fifth-straight, a 6-0 victory over the Northern Colorado Bears Friday at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge.
Miller threw four innings and allowed just two hits while striking out four and walking two. After Miller gave up a double and a walk to open the fifth inning, Jones came on in relief and slammed the door shut. She faced the minimum (9 batters) in her three innings of work and struck out four to move her record to 4-1 on the season.
Southern scored runs in four of the six innings and hung a crooked number in the fourth with three runs in the frame. Three Salukis collected multiple hits, led by Susie Baranski and Ashley Wood. Baranski went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, a stolen base and an RBI while Wood went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Jenny Jansen also recorded her second multi-hit game of the season, as she went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and an RBI-double.
The Salukis left seven on-base through three and a half innings- including bases loaded in the bottom of the first- but got timely hits in the bottom of the fourth. After Maddy Vermejan reached on an error and advanced to second on a passed ball, Baranski drilled a double off the wall in right-center to bring Vermejan in and extend SIU's lead. Jansen followed with an RBI-double down the right field line to put Southern ahead 3-0, and after the Bears got the second out of the inning, Jordan Spicer roped a pinch-hit single to score Jansen from second and put the Salukis up 4-0.
"I was a little concerned early on that we didn't take advantage of a bases-loaded situation because we've been hammering on them to be ready to go," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "After that, we settled down. I thought Claire did a fantastic job to get to Bri, so it was a good overall effort."
The Bears looked as though they were getting something going in the fifth after a leadoff double and a walk gave them two-on with no outs. Jones came on in relief of Miller and promptly induced a popup, ground out and a strikeout to get out of the jam.
Southern tacked on a run in both the fifth and sixth innings to provide Jones with insurance runs that she never needed.
The Salukis will look to extend their win streak tomorrow when it plays two games against NCAA Regional teams from a year ago in Sacramento State (6 p.m.) and North Dakota State (8:30 p.m.)
"We just have to go one game at a time," Blaylock said of her team's win streak. "We get in a bunch of trouble when we start thinking way too far in advance. We've got a game against Sac State tomorrow at 6 p.m. that we need to be ready for."