May 19, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes

By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University softball team ended its season Saturday with a 7-4 loss to Missouri in the NCAA Carbondale Regional.

The appearance marks SIU's fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and sixth in the team's history.

Missouri (40-23) held off a Southern Illinois (41-16) rally in the sixth inning to get the win. The Tigers will now advance to the Regional finals on Sunday against DePaul.

Action in the Missouri-DePaul game is set to begin at 12 p.m. at SIU's Charlotte West Stadium.

"I'm very, very proud of my kids. I thought they battled really hard today. Both pitchers have had to throw a lot of innings and Missouri was hitting the ball extremely well. I thought we fought really hard. They did a tremendous job. The one thing that I saw today is a huge amount of fight from my team in an adverse situation. We did a tremendous job of fighting back and making it a really good game," said SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock.

"It is a very sad time for me when you have to end like this and lose the kids you care about and have meant so much to the program. Cassidy Scoggins, Ashley Hamby, and Amanda Clifton have been like a security blanket. When they go you have to replace them and it should be interesting with new players. I say this every year because I have a special bond with my players. They are very special people to me. It was a great season. I have so many great memories of these kids; it is so hard to let them go."

Amanda Renth put the Tigers on the board in the first inning, hitting a two-out home run that also scored Julie Silver to give Missouri a 2-0 lead.

Back-to-back base hits, followed by a walk, loaded the bases in the top of the second for Jen Bruck as she scored Allison Kennewell on her ground-out to second base, extending Mizzou's lead to 3-0.

The Salukis answered for the first time in the bottom half of the inning as Tiffanie Dismore and Becky Wegmann led off with a pair of base hits, giving SIU two runners in scoring position.

Alicia Garza made the work pay off on the next at-bat as she hit a high fly ball to center field, allowing Dismore to tag up and score.

Missouri extended its lead in the top of the sixth as a RBI single by Renth and a two-run double by Micaela Minner gave the Tigers a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Southern Illinois got some momentum going in the sixth and threatened to make a run with a three-run rally, but Mizzou held the Salukis off.

Dismore led off with a single and scored on a double by Wegmann, setting the stage for Haas to bring Wegmann in with her RBI single.

Katie Wilson sent a double off the wall in left-center to bring Haas end and cut the lead to 7-4, but the Tigers were able to quell the Saluki run and finish off with the win.

Ashley Hamby takes the loss after giving up a pair of runs in the first inning. Cassidy Scoggins came in to relieve Hamby and struck out one in 6.1 innings, giving up 10 hits and three walks for five runs.

Jana Hainey, Megan Dennis and Jen Bruck combined to fill out the pitching efforts for Missouri. Hainey gets the win with Bruck earning the save.

The trio combined for five strikeouts, giving up seven hits for four runs.