Two months ago, Saluki softball was seemingly dead in the water.

A brutal stretch of non conference games to open the season left many fans concerned about the chances of SIU’s most successful sport over the past two seasons and how they were going to fare for the rest of the season.

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Suffice to say, those concerns were put to rest during the conference portion of the schedule.

After entering conference play at 8-14, including a 1-12 start to the season, SIU finished the year 21-5 in MVC play, good for an .808 winning percentage, a 31-19 record overall and their second consecutive MVC Regular Season title.

Their performance in the regular season earned them the number one seed in the MVC Tournament, which will be hosted by Drake and played in Des Moines, IA, from May 7-10. The Dawgs will first take the field on May 8 at 10 a.m. versus the winner of the Drake-Murray State game. 

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Head coach Jen Sewell’s Salukis clinched the regular season title with a series win over the Evansville Purple Aces, starting with an 11-0 beatdown on Friday in which senior Emma Austin broke the career record for stolen bases. 

Emma Gipson got the start on Friday and tossed two innings before giving way to Mckenzie Newcomb, who got the win after throwing four scoreless innings. 

SIU got on the board in the top of the third when shortstop Jackie Lis’s single scored Amanda Knutson. Austin scored on the next play off a wild pitch. Emily Williams picked up a hit to score Lis and put the Dawgs up 3-0. 

What had been a relatively close game was broken open by SIU in the top of the sixth. Knutson smashed a triple to score Sage Grann and Erin Lee and scored off a Lis groundout, and Austin scored on a Williams groundout. 

Mikaela Coburn hit a double into left field to score Anna Carder, and Grann’s double scored Lee, Coburn and Addi Baker to put the Salukis up 11-0 and run rule the Purple Aces. 

Friday’s offensive showcase did not repeat itself in Saturday’s matchup. SIU collected only six hits and couldn’t score a single run in the 2-0 loss despite good showings from Kaytee Dahlstom and Newcomb.

The top of the third inning and the top of the sixth were SIU’s best chances to score, but they left two runners on in each frame.

The Dawgs didn’t seem like they were affected by Saturday’s performance when they took the field on Sunday. They once again piled up 11 runs, a sign that their MVC-leading offense by batting average and hits was not going to be silenced again.

They immediately got on the board in the top of the first after Carder’s single scored Austin, and grabbed another run in the third when Austin again scored, this time off a Lis flyout. 

The top of the fifth was the turning point for SIU; Austin scored her third run of the game, and Williams hit her ____ home run of the season to make it 5-1. The sixth went just as well; Coburn crossed home, followed by Austin and Knutson off of another Carder hit.

The Salukis clinched their sixth regular season title in program history, and look to defend their MVC Tournament title and punch their ticket to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.

Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptianx on Facebook.

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