The loss of an hour of sleep did not stop the awakening of timely hitting for the Saluki softball team.

After stranding 16 batters in a two-game sweep of Indiana State University Saturday, SIUC came through with clutch hits Sunday to defeat Illinois State University 4-0 for a two-game sweep of the Redbirds at IAW Fields. SIUC won the first game 3-0.

With the four wins, the Salukis improved to 22-7-1 overall and 4-0 in Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State fell to 9-19, 0-2 while Illinois State dropped to 11-19, 0-4.

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It was kind of a day with mixed emotions, SIUC coach Kay Brechtelsbauer said of the wins over Indiana State. It wasn’t a pretty ball game. [Indiana State] took a lot of hits away from us.

Despite being outhit 7-6 in game two of the doubleheader with the Redbirds, the Salukis got the bats swinging when most needed. Junior outfielder Jen Feldmeier opened the scoring by singling home freshman outfielder Marta Viefhaus in the third. Feldmeier would later score on a throwing error by Redbird shortstop April Schermann.

The Salukis added one run in each of the next two innings, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by junior outfielder Jaymie Cowell and double from sophomore second baseman Jamie Campbell.

We had some sacrifice flies today we haven’t been able to get, Brechtelsbauer said. Those are big runs for us. I mean you can get hits and not score, and you can get outs and score. We just came through with some timely hits.

Erin Stremsterfer, who has been suffering from an ankle injury all season, earned the win behind a strong six-hit performance in 5 2/3 innings. Stremsterfer, who improved to 6-2 on the season, pitched 11 innings of relief in the Salukis 4-3 victory over Indiana State Saturday in 13 innings.

SIUC defeated the Sycamores 2-0 in the series opener Saturday.

I’m feeling a lot more confident about (the injury), Stremsterfer said. After a week of practice, it’s gotten a lot stronger.

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In the first game, SIUC took advantage of Redbird senior pitcher Jayme Jacobsen’s two hit batsmen and wild pitch in the first inning. Stremsterfer’s sacrifice fly scored junior outfielder Jen Feldmeier to start a three-run inning.

Junior first baseman Theresa Shields and sophomore shortstop Lori Greiner also contributed to the early lead. Shields’ single coupled with a fielding error scored junior third baseman Nikki Beard, while Greiner’s double with two out drove home Shields.

That would all the runs sophomore pitcher Carisa Winters needed. Winters allowed three hits and struck out five to pick up the win. The victory was the second shutout of the weekend for Winters. She blanked Indiana State, allowing three hits and striking out nine.

She finished the weekend with 18 strikeouts, four shy of the single-season school record.

As a whole, the Saluki pitching staff allowed no earned runs in the four games. The mound has been a constant for the team all season.

I thought our pitchers did a good job for the most part, Brechtelsbauer said. We had shutouts against two pretty good hitting ball clubs.

Offensively, Viefhaus sparked the Salukis. She went 4-for-5 in the extra-inning game with the Sycamores and her two-run homer in 13th turned out to be the difference.

I was really surprised because I didn’t even finish my swing, Viefhaus said. It was just one of those days.

But Brechtelsbauer knows these days are not going to happen every weekend. The Salukis play host for their final two games of the season this weekend against Wichita State University and Southwest Missouri State University.

We didn’t execute some things we have done in the past, Brechtelsbauer said. I think that they are just going to have to stay determined.