“The wind was so bad that coach was scared to throw inside thinking they would turn on it and a fly ball would get out.” – Ashley Hamby SIU senior pitcher

“It doesn’t make you feel good. We had the win in our grasp,” Blaylock said. “If we would have played a little more sharp, we could have sped the game up in the early innings. I don’t like walking away from there without a win.”

SIU was looking for a win coming off a rough weekend, and Tuesday’s game started out in its favor. The Salukis struck for three runs in the top of the first.

Freshman second baseman Alicia Garza hit a double that would have extended her hit streak to 13 games, setting up a three-run homer for sophomore catcher Jayme Wamsley. Wamsley contributed four RBIs at the plate.

Southeast Missouri State was able to respond in the bottom of the second when Redhawk outfielder Stephanie Mata hit an RBI single that cut the Salukis’ lead to 3-1. After Mata was retired, SIU senior pitcher Ashley Hamby set down seven Redhawks in a row.

Wamsley was able to pick up her fourth RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly in the top of the third, which was followed by a one-run single from freshman outfielder Katie Wilson to extend the lead to 5-1.

The Redhawks threatened to score in the bottom of the fifth when they recorded two singles in a row. With two on and no one out, Hamby got the last hitter she faced to pop up as Garza made a difficult catch that bounced off first baseman Lauren Hass’ glove.

Hamby improved off her last start giving up only two runs despite winds up to 20 miles per hour blowing straight out.

Hamby said the wind was a problem but she was able to mix her pitches effectively.

“The wind was so bad that coach was scared to throw inside thinking they would turn on it and a fly ball would get out,” Hamby said. “I had to stick to my curveball and changeup but my curveball was working better than it was over the weekend.”

Senior pitcher Cassidy Scoggins came into the game with one out and the bases loaded to face the Redhawks top hitter in Stacia Dopudja. Scoggins threw a strikeout and with two outs and the bases loaded it began to rain.

Blaylock said the Salukis came out better then they did over the weekend but said they were still too sloppy.

“I think we were confident, I just don’t know how ready we were to play,” Blaylock said. “We were pretty sloppy on defense, just normal plays that should be made and that prolonged the game.”