The championship round of the Mardi Gras Classic in Monroe, La., was canceled because of rain Sunday.

The SIUC softball team finished the 11-team tournament 4-1, which was good for second place in its pool. SIUC was scheduled to play Northeast Louisiana University in the opening game of the championship bracket Sunday before weather prevented play.

As a result, NLU and the Salukis tied for third place. Oklahoma City University and the University of Tulsa were named co-champions of the tournament. Tulsa, which finished 4-1 also, earned the first-place finish over SIUC by virtue of an earlier win over the Salukis.

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But SIUC coach Kay Brechtelsbauer could not be much happier with her team’s play this early in the season.

I’m pleased with our start, she said. We jumped into some good competitive play against teams that were ranked last year.

Junior first baseman Theresa Shields ended the tournament with a .600 (12 for 20) batting average, one home run and six RBIs. After missing the first three games with a suspension for violating team rules, sophomore hurler Carisa Winters went 1-0 with a save and a 1.80 ERA in two appearances.

The Salukis’ next action will be this weekend in the Southern Classic at the IAW Fields. SIUC faces Eastern Illinois University Saturday at 11 a.m.

Women’s golf finishes fifth in Phoenix

The SIUC women’s golf team opened its spring season with a fifth-place finish at the Midwest Classic in Phoenix, Ariz., Saturday.

After firing a 311 team score Friday, the Salukis responded by putting five players in the 70s and shooting a 303 Saturday, one shot shy of tying the school record.

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The Salukis were led by the play of freshman Liz Uthoff, who posted a fourth-place finish individually at 149 with rounds of 76 and 73.

Our highlight was probably the play of our freshman Liz Uthoff, Saluki women’s golf coach Diane Daugherty said. She shot 76, 73 and ended up fourth in the tournament overall. The 73 was a career low and just really outstanding.

Senior Stacy Skillman fired rounds of 75 and 79 for a 154. Sophomore Andrea Walker (80-75) finished right behind at 155, followed by senior Jamie Smith (80-77) at 157, junior Jami Zimmerman (80-78) at 158 and freshman Jamie Schmidt (82-84) at 166.

We had five scores in the 70s the last day, and we count four of our six, Daugherty said. We’re a very strong team with six. We had a strong team at home because we left three at home, and they’re playing very well. When we can count four of six scores, we’re tough.

The Salukis have two weeks off before they travel to Baton Rouge, La., for the Louisiana State Invitational March 12 through 14.

Baseball drops heartbreaker to OSU 8-6

Oklahoma State first baseman Tony Lucca’s late inning two-run homer Sunday leashed the Salukis, who dropped their sixth-straight game after an 8-6 loss to OSU Sunday.

The Salukis led 6-5 into the bottom of the seventh, but Lucca put the Cowboys back on top and they never surrendered the lead.

SIUC baseball coach Dan Callahan said a big factor in the loss Sunday was the lack of numbers on the team.

I think maybe a lack of depth caught up with us a little bit, Callahan said. We went to Oklahoma State with only 13 position players to begin with, and we had two guys who weren’t able to play because they were sick.

Sunday was the closest we had come to winning, and that would have been a nice win because it would have been such a gutsy performance.

The Salukis lost infielder Steve Ruggeri and outfielder Marty Worsley to sickness last weekend.

The Salukis next play Southeast Missouri State University Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Cape Girardeau, Mo.