The Southern Illinois University softball team used a five-run sixth inning to force extra innings against the Murray State Racers but the contest was declared a 6-6 tie after eight innings due to continued rain.
“Coming back from down six runs today was good for us,” Interim head coach Jen Sewell said. “We got a little stunned at Bradley and the biggest thing we needed to learn is that sometimes we want the strike zone to be perfect and to work every count but today proved that it doesn’t have to be perfect for us to have success. We can jump on a first or second pitch and still hit the ball hard. We needed to prove to ourselves that we don’t need to be the first to jump out to a lead. We can play from behind and with a questionable strike zone so long as we listen when the game gets tough. If the game gets tough and we stop listening, it is going to be hard to make adjustments.”
Down to their last six outs and the Racers leading 6-1, Southern used five hits and a pair of walks to put up a five-spot in the sixth inning to tie the contest. The Racers threatened in the bottom of the eighth, after they loaded the bases with two outs but Sarah Harness pitched her way out of it to keep it knotted at 6-all.
Murray State pulled its starting pitcher Jenna Veber in favor of reliever Emma Olejniczak to open the sixth. Ashley Wood welcomed Olejniczak to the game with a leadoff double and Jenny Jansen followed with a double of her own to score Wood. After Sidney Sikes walked, Elizabeth Warwick plated Jansen’s courtesy runner, Danielle Eilers, with a single. Emma Austin then socked a RBI-single and Aubree DePron tied the game with a two-out, two-run single.
“Olejniczak throws the ball a little flatter and on the arm side a little bit more so it made it a little easier for our hitters to pick out where the strikes were going to come from,” Sewell said. “We started to jump on pitches earlier in the count because of how the strike zone was being called. Once we did that, not only did we score the runs that we did but we also missed out on a few others. We had a couple of fly outs that would’ve likely been home runs had they not been hit into the wind. We just got off to way too slow of a start offensively.”
After both sides went down in order in the seventh, Southern got a one-out double from Tori Schullian in the top of the eighth but couldn’t bring her around to score. The Racers led off the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back singles and a two-out walk loaded the bases but Harness induced a pop-up to get out of the inning unscathed.
Harness was terrific in relief of SIU starting pitcher Madi Eberle. The Bowling Green, Mo. native threw four and two-third scoreless innings and allowed just three hits. She also struck out seven and walked six in a game in which she pitched almost the entirety of it in wet conditions.
“Sarah got better as the rain started to fall harder,” Sewell said. “For her to hang on to the ball and command her change up and rise ball at two different levels was a big deal. It was not easy. She was pitching a little backwards with her changeup but both her rise ball and changeup worked so well.”
Murray State used a single, a walk and a two-out double to get out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. In the third, a solo home run followed by a single, two hit batters and a walk put the Racers ahead, 4-0.
Murray State added to its lead in the fourth. After a leadoff single and a one-out double ended Eberle’s day in the circle, Murray State pushed across a run on a wild pitch and used a double steal to take a 6-0 lead.
Southern finally got on the board in the top of the fifth. Warwick led off with a double, Schullian moved her to third with a single and Elisabeth Huckleberry drove in Warwick with a sacrifice fly.
The Salukis then scored five in the sixth to tie the game at 6-all. SIU tied for just the fifth time in program history and first time since 2015. (Feb. 25 vs. Northern Colorado)
Four Salukis notched multi-hit games in the tie. Wood (2-for-4, double), Warwick (2-for-4, RBI, double), Schullian (2-for-3, double) and Austin (2-for-4, RBI) each had a pair of hits against the Racers. Jenny Jansen’s double in the sixth extended her reached base safely streak to 27 games, which is the second-longest by a Saluki since 2003. Sidney Sikes drew a walk in the sixth inning to extend her personal-best reached base streak to 17 games.
The Salukis kick off a four-game homestand this weekend with a three-game set against Indiana State. First pitch of Saturday’s doubleheader is set for Noon.
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