Sunday, March 25
Carbondale, Ill.
12:00 PM
Creighton University
7
at
6
Southern Illinois
Softball Comes From Behind for 7-6 Win at Southern Illinois
3/25/2012 3:15:00 PM | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Creighton softball team exacted some revenge on Southern Illinois Sunday at Charlotte West Stadium. On Saturday the Bluejays led in both of their losses to the Salukis, but on Sunday it was SIU scoring first and building an early five-run lead. Creighton responded and scored the final four runs of the game for a 7-6 win to avoid the sweep and hand the Salukis their first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season.
The top-scoring offense in the MVC jumped on top of the Bluejays (12-13, 3-3 MVC) and starting pitcher Sammy Snygg with a four-run first inning. Mallory Duran-Sellers led off the first with a solo home run and Jayna Spivey's three-run homer gave the Salukis a 4-0 lead after one.
The Salukis (17-8, 5-1 MVC) added an unearned run in the second inning to go ahead 5-0 heading into the third.
In the third inning, Christa Ruf walked with one out to get the offense started for Creighton. Ellen Homan and Allie Mathewson followed with singles, but Homan was erased from the base paths on Mathewson's single to put two runners on for hot-hitting Bri Lingl. The Illinois native crushed her fourth home run of the season to put the Bluejays on the board and make the score 5-3 in favor of the home team.
Snygg hit Allie VadeBoncouer with a pitch and walked Taylor Orsburn to start the third inning, and she was pulled in favor of Becca Changstrom. A single loaded the bases for SIU, but following a sacrifice fly, Changstrom struck out the final two Salukis of the inning to escape any further damage.
Neither team scored in the fourth of fifth innings, before the Bluejays tied the game in the sixth. Alexis Cantu walked to start the sixth and Amy Baker followed by crushing her first home run in MVC play this spring. Her fourth home run of the year was the 37th of her career, tying her with Lauren Cisneros and Stacey Rybar for second in school history, while her pair of RBI moved her past Cisneros into seventh in program history with 109 RBI.
Trailing 6-5 after the two-run homer from Baker, Ashley Frutos kept the offense going by welcoming SIU reliever Katie Bertelsen to the game with a single. Frutos moved into scoring position when Changstrom grounded out to Bertelsen and she would score on Ruf's RBI double to tie the game.
After SIU stranded a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, Creighton took its first lead of the game in the seventh. Lingl doubled to start the frame and her pinch-runner Taylor Flodman would score the go-ahead run on an RBI single from Cantu.
The bottom of the seventh inning was anything but routine for the Bluejays as CU became the first team to defeat SIU in Carbondale this year. Orsburn led off the inning with a fly ball into shallow left field which caused a collision between Homan in left and shortstop Liz Dike. The collision allowed the ball to land and then Homan tried to prevent Orsburn from advancing to second base, but her throw was wild and Orsburn ended up at third base with no outs.
Changstrom then induced a ground out to shortstop for the first out and Meredith Wilson reached base when Frutos fielded a grounder at second base and came home to keep Orsburn at third. With the trying run at third base and go-ahead run at first, Changstrom struck out Alicia Junker and Michelle Bradley to end the game.
Changstrom finished with five scoreless innings of relief after allowing one inherited runner to score. The sophomore moved to 6-7 on the season, allowing only three hits to the top offense in the league, while striking out six in the relief victory.
Freshmen Mathewson and Lingl each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Lingl homered and drove in three runs for the Jays. Lingl is now 10-for-18 (.556) with two home runs and 10 RBI in her first six MVC games, while Mathewson is 10-for-20 (.500) in league play.
Baker went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in the win for Creighton.
Katie Bertelsen (6-4) took the loss for SIU, allowing four hits and two runs in one inning of relief. Starting pitcher Alyssa Wunderlich took a no decision after allowing five runs on six hits in five-plus innings of work.
Creighton, which has played its first 25 games this season away from home, is scheduled to play a home doubleheader against South Dakota on Wednesday at 5 pm, after having its scheduled home-opener rained out last Wednesday. CU will play its first MVC home games of the season next weekend against Indiana State.
The top-scoring offense in the MVC jumped on top of the Bluejays (12-13, 3-3 MVC) and starting pitcher Sammy Snygg with a four-run first inning. Mallory Duran-Sellers led off the first with a solo home run and Jayna Spivey's three-run homer gave the Salukis a 4-0 lead after one.
The Salukis (17-8, 5-1 MVC) added an unearned run in the second inning to go ahead 5-0 heading into the third.
In the third inning, Christa Ruf walked with one out to get the offense started for Creighton. Ellen Homan and Allie Mathewson followed with singles, but Homan was erased from the base paths on Mathewson's single to put two runners on for hot-hitting Bri Lingl. The Illinois native crushed her fourth home run of the season to put the Bluejays on the board and make the score 5-3 in favor of the home team.
Snygg hit Allie VadeBoncouer with a pitch and walked Taylor Orsburn to start the third inning, and she was pulled in favor of Becca Changstrom. A single loaded the bases for SIU, but following a sacrifice fly, Changstrom struck out the final two Salukis of the inning to escape any further damage.
Neither team scored in the fourth of fifth innings, before the Bluejays tied the game in the sixth. Alexis Cantu walked to start the sixth and Amy Baker followed by crushing her first home run in MVC play this spring. Her fourth home run of the year was the 37th of her career, tying her with Lauren Cisneros and Stacey Rybar for second in school history, while her pair of RBI moved her past Cisneros into seventh in program history with 109 RBI.
Trailing 6-5 after the two-run homer from Baker, Ashley Frutos kept the offense going by welcoming SIU reliever Katie Bertelsen to the game with a single. Frutos moved into scoring position when Changstrom grounded out to Bertelsen and she would score on Ruf's RBI double to tie the game.
After SIU stranded a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, Creighton took its first lead of the game in the seventh. Lingl doubled to start the frame and her pinch-runner Taylor Flodman would score the go-ahead run on an RBI single from Cantu.
The bottom of the seventh inning was anything but routine for the Bluejays as CU became the first team to defeat SIU in Carbondale this year. Orsburn led off the inning with a fly ball into shallow left field which caused a collision between Homan in left and shortstop Liz Dike. The collision allowed the ball to land and then Homan tried to prevent Orsburn from advancing to second base, but her throw was wild and Orsburn ended up at third base with no outs.
Changstrom then induced a ground out to shortstop for the first out and Meredith Wilson reached base when Frutos fielded a grounder at second base and came home to keep Orsburn at third. With the trying run at third base and go-ahead run at first, Changstrom struck out Alicia Junker and Michelle Bradley to end the game.
Changstrom finished with five scoreless innings of relief after allowing one inherited runner to score. The sophomore moved to 6-7 on the season, allowing only three hits to the top offense in the league, while striking out six in the relief victory.
Freshmen Mathewson and Lingl each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Lingl homered and drove in three runs for the Jays. Lingl is now 10-for-18 (.556) with two home runs and 10 RBI in her first six MVC games, while Mathewson is 10-for-20 (.500) in league play.
Baker went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in the win for Creighton.
Katie Bertelsen (6-4) took the loss for SIU, allowing four hits and two runs in one inning of relief. Starting pitcher Alyssa Wunderlich took a no decision after allowing five runs on six hits in five-plus innings of work.
Creighton, which has played its first 25 games this season away from home, is scheduled to play a home doubleheader against South Dakota on Wednesday at 5 pm, after having its scheduled home-opener rained out last Wednesday. CU will play its first MVC home games of the season next weekend against Indiana State.
Players Mentioned
P/1B
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/1B
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