The SIUC men’s and women’s swimming teams both finished second Saturday at the National Independent Conference Championships at the University of Cincinnati.

Senior Alex Wright won Male Diver of the Year honors for his victory in the 1-meter diving competition. Wright was the lone individual winner for the men’s team.

As a result of Wright’s performance, diving coach Dave Ardrey won Male Diving Coach of the Year.

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The men’s team finished with 620 points, while Cincinnati won the championships with 687.

On the women’s side, freshman Beth Ann Erickson won the 100-meter butterfly, and sophomore Melanie Williams won the 100-meter and 200-meter breast stroke.

The women’s team finished with a team score of 514 points behind Cincinnati with 813 points.

SIUC finishes second in Best Inns Classic

The Saluki baseball team finished second at the Saluki/Best Inns Classic Sunday at Abe Martin Field with a 19-10 win over Western Illinois University.

SIUC finished the tournament with a 2-1 record. Eastern Illinois University earned the title with a 3-0 record after beating Northern Illinois University 7-6 Sunday afternoon.

SIUC scored 11 runs off WIU starter Brett Kelley and never looked back Sunday. Senior first baseman Joel Peters was the Salukis hitting star, going 4-for-6 with three doubles, a home run and four RBIs. Sophomore Dave Polhman went 3-for-6 with four RBIs.

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Junior Adam Biggs earned the win, giving up five earned runs and 10 hits in five innings pitched. Sophomore Jay Schwerman and senior Chris Schullian also saw action on the mound.

The Salukis began the Best Inns Classic with a scoring parade that put them up 3-1 in the first inning. But then the pitching fell apart as the Salukis fell to Eastern Illinois University 9-8 Friday afternoon.

Offensively, the Salukis continued their strong hitting against Northern Illinois University on Saturday afternoon.

The Salukis jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first inning. But NIU came back with four runs in the second to tie it. Saluki sophomore rightfielder Marty Worsley hit a three-run smash to put the Salukis up 8-5. The Salukis went on to win the game 14-11.

The Saluki pitching again struggled and NIU almost took control of the game. Junior Dave Condon and senior Chris Kulig combined to allow four straight batters to reach base in the sixth inning by either walking them or hitting them with a pitch.

SIUC battles Southeast Missouri State University 2 p.m. Wednesday at Abe Martin Field.

Salukis finish second in Southern Classic

The SIUC softball team’s loss to Northern Illinois Sunday eliminated any chances of the Salukis winning this weekend’s Southern Classic at IAW Fields.

NIU defeated the Salukis 3-1 on their way to taking the tournament championship. Both teams finished the weekend with 4-1 records, but the Huskies were named champions by virtue of the win over SIUC.

The Salukis did finish up the tournament on a positive note with wins over Southeast Missouri State University (3-0) and Bradley University (9-0). The Bradley game was called after the fifth inning because of the eight-run rule.

Freshman pitcher Erin Stremsterfer pitched five shutout innings for the victory over the Braves.

SIUC earned wins over Eastern Illinois University and the University of Kentucky Saturday in the first day of competition.

Stremsterfer allowed five hits against the Panthers and struck out six batters in seven innings of work. Junior first baseman Theresa Shields had two hits and drove in three runs, while sophomore shortstop Lori Greiner doubled in the fourth inning, driving in two runs.

Against the Wildcats, sophomore pitcher Carisa Winters improved to 2-0 this season, giving up five hits and striking out six batters in the 5-1 victory. Shields had two RBIs, including a solo home run, to lead the Salukis.

On March 9, the Salukis travel to Atlanta, Ga., to battle Georgia Tech University.