SIUC sophomore pitcher Carisa Winters may be seeing some serious overtime for the second consecutive week.

The status of freshman pitcher Erin Stremsterfer, who is nursing a sprained ankle, has yet to be determined. SIUC coach Kay Brechtelsbauer will make a determine at game time whether Stremsterfer will be available for the Saluki softball team’s trip to Columbia, Mo., for the Missouri Invitational.

I don’t know how much she’ll throw, Brechtelsbauer said. We’re going to have to watch her because she needs some support on that ankle.

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Without Stremsterfer in the lineup, the Salukis (15-5, 1-0) will have only two pitchers who have seen action this season Winters and sophomore Tracy Remspecher. Remspecher has only appeared in six games and is still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.

Brechtelsbauer has intentions of using freshman centerfielder Marta Viefhaus on the mound in case of emergency to keep some of the load off Winters, who was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week Monday.

The Salukis are fresh off a 7-3 spring break road trip and fifth-place finish in the Lady Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. But sophomore shortstop Lori Greiner said the team was not prepared for close games.

We were really used to pounding on everybody, said Greiner, who made the All-Tournament team. Then all of a sudden, we found ourselves in one-run games, and we let ourselves get down. We let it get to us more than we should have.

The Salukis should expect all they can handle if they face the University of Missouri. The Tigers have jumped out to a 16-5 record and are ranked ninth in the nation. Big Ten Conference foes Indiana University and the University of Wisconsin also stand in the Salukis’ way.

The University of Tulsa, Ball State University, Ohio University and Missouri Valley Conference members Indiana State University and the University of Northern Iowa, make up the nine-team tournament field.

SIUC plays Wisconsin at noon today before ending pool play versus Ball State University at 4 p.m. Cross-pool play begins Saturday, and the Invitational concludes with consolation and championship bracket play Sunday.

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After finishing 41-16 a year ago and missing the NCAA tournament, Brechtelsbauer hopes to come back with some quality wins to impress the voters at the end of the season.

Hopefully we can do well against the two Big Ten schools this weekend, she said. That helps our conference as a whole, in terms of at-large and strength of schedule.

But one possible opponent the Salukis would love to face is Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes (9-17) won a 6-3 decision over SIUC Feb. 20 in the Mardi Gras Classic in Monroe, La.

Tulsa’s ability to bunt the ball in key situations turned out to be the difference in the ballgame. Junior catcher Brooke Hattermann did not play in that game, but relishes the opportunity of a rematch.

They bunted us to death, Hattermann said. I’m going to expect it a lot more because they have a lot of fast runners on their team.

SIUC travels to Columbia, Mo., to play in the Missouri Invitational, beginning with a game against the University of Wisconsin today at noon.