Salukis split series with Bears

The SIU softball team once again had a freshman show the way this weekend.

Freshman outfielder Katie Jordan put on an impressive offensive display, hitting 3-of-6 with a home run, a run scored and two RBI’s for the Salukis this weekend against Missouri Valley Conference rival Southwest Missouri State.

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The Salukis split Saturday’s doubleheader with the Bears, falling 5-3 in the first game before coming back to take the second game 3-2 at the SMS Softball Field in Springfield, Mo. Sunday’s game was called off with SIU up 3-1 in the fourth inning due to poor weather conditions.

The Salukis were able to overcome a 2-0 hole in the second game of the doubleheader thanks to clutch hitting by senior second baseman Tahira Saafir.

The Bears took the lead on a two-run single by Amber Curtis in the top of the third inning, but SIU came back in their half of the inning behind RBI singles by Jordan and Adie Viefhaus.

Saafir then came up in the bottom of the fourth with Kelly Creek and Haley Viefhaus on base and proceeded to drive Creek home for what turned out to be the game-winner.

Also providing the Salukis with solid play was junior pitcher Renee Mueller, who threw her third complete game of the season. Mueller, who has had her duties limited recently because of lingering back problems, improved her record to 6-3 on the year.

While the second game of the doubleheader left the Salukis (20-12, 7-4 MVC) all smiles, in the first game, just about everything that could go wrong did so.

SMS’ first hitter, Christy Serwein, led the game off with an infield single. She then stole second on the ensuing pitch and advanced to third when SIU catcher Karrie Fortman’s throw sailed into center field. Serwein scored on a single by Ashley Meredith.

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The wild throw by Fortman was a sign of things to come with the Salukis committing a total of five errors in their two-run loss to the fourth-place Bears (16-14, 6-5 MVC).

Errors by Haley Viefhaus and Saafir allowed the Bears to tack another run on the board to make it 2-0.

The Salukis’ bats woke up in the fourth with back-to-back singles by Adie Viefhaus and Jordan. Freshman Maria Damico then hit into a fielder’s choice before Creek doubled to score Adie Viefhaus. Senior Jen Guenther then singled to right scoring Damico, knotting the game at 2-2.

SIU starting pitcher Amy Harre then fell apart in the bottom half of the inning.

With runners on first and second, Harre threw two wild pitches, allowing both runners to cross the plate. Then another error, this time by Jordan who had moved to catcher from the outfield, allowed Jessica Leathers to score, making it 5-2.

The last Saluki run came on a homer by Jordan in the top of the sixth. The solo shot by the freshman was her third on the year.

Jordan and Guenther both went 2-of-3 with an RBI in the losing effort.

The loss for Harre was her fourth in a row and dropped her record to 10-7.

Reporter Jens Deju can be reached at [email protected]