Jackie Lis broke yet another record and continued to forge her legacy as one of the greatest softball players in SIU history when the Dawgs hosted the Saluki Invitational on March 8-9.
Lis smashed her 40th career home run over the left field wall during SIU’s 4-1 victory over Northern Illinois University on Sunday. Lis had been tied with Katie Jordan, who had owned the record (39) for 20 years.
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The Salukis saw their win streak broken in the first game of the tournament when they fell to Wisconsin 2-1. Kiana McDowell started the game for the Dawgs and pitched 2.2 innings, recording zero strikeouts and allowing 1 earned run.
Mackenzie Newcomb finished the game off for the Salukis, striking out three Badgers. One run scored during her time on the mound, as Wisconsin scored after bunt following a ball that slipped past catcher Anna Carder in the fifth inning.
Addi Baker’s home run in the bottom of the fifth was the only run scored for the Dawgs, even though they outhit the Badgers 10-4, led by Emma Austin going 4-4 at the plate.
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The Salukis got back on track in their second game of Saturday, dismantling NIU 8-0 in five innings. Carder hit a sac fly to score Austin in the bottom of the first before the floodgates opened in the bottom of the third.
Erin Lee’s double scored Lis and Austin before Hayden Kurtz batted in Lee. Kurtz was brought home following a single by Baker and a fielding error, making the score 4-0 after three.
Amanda Knutson hit a single, stole second and made it to third after a wild pitch in the fourth and was brought home following a Charley Pursley single. Pursley also scored after Lis grounded out.
Mikaela Coburn ended the game when she brought home Baker, who hit a triple in the bottom of the fifth and made the final score 8-0. Freshmen Emma Gipson and Kaytee Dahlstrom teamed up to blank the Huskies and allowed only 2 hits.
Gipson once again got the ball to start on Sunday, this time facing Wisconsin. She lasted only 1.1 innings and saw 2 runs score, though neither was earned.
Austin, who had 10 hits over the weekend, brought home Knutson in the second, and Lee tied the game off a Coburn single in the bottom of the third.
Pursley scored during an error in the bottom of fourth, and Baker hit her second home run of the weekend to bring home Lis and Sarah Cook and make the score 6-2. Lis scored again off a double from Lee in the bottom of the seventh, finishing off a 7-3 victory.
McDowell started the Salukis’ final game of the weekend, their second against NIU. She gave up 6 hits, but yielded only 1 earned run.
Lis tied it on her record-breaking homer, which was a solo shot. The Salukis continued their scoring in the bottom of the third when Carder’s double brought home Sage Grann, who had 2 hits in the game. Austin scored on the next play on a Lis fly out and put the Salukis up 3-1.
Coburn scored on a Grann fly out, giving the Dawgs a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth that Dahlstrom would help preserve from the mound. Dahlstrom pitched the final 4 innings and gave up 4 hits but no runs while striking out 3.
The Salukis, winners of seven of their last nine, wrap up out-of-conference play with an 8-14 record, including being 7-2 at Charlotte West Stadium. SIU will open up Missouri Valley Conference play at home on March 14 at 5 p.m. when they take on the Illinois State Redbirds.
Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook.
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