Saluki softball continued its stretch of late-season victories with a series win over the first place team in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Salukis (27-21, 14-9) traveled to Wichita State University (31-20, 18-6) for a three-game set where the Dawgs won two of the three games.

The Salukis were bolstered by the their pitching in Saturday’s doubleheader.

In game one, the Salukis beat the Shockers 2-1 thanks to great pitching from sophomore Katie Bertelsen.  Bertelsen allowed one run in the first inning, her only mistake of the game; she threw seven innings with one earned run and allowed four hits.

In the top of the fifth inning, with the score tied 1-1, freshman Merri Anne Patterson hit a solo homerun that would prove to be the game winner and gave SIU a 2-1 victory.

In Saturday’s second game, it was senior Taylor Orsburn SIU sent to the circle to earn the win over the Shockers, 10-3.

SIU and Wichita were tied 3-3 in the fifth when Salukis struck twice to make the score 5-3.  One inning later, the Salukis scored four times on six hits to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore Kelsey Gonzalez led the team offensively in game two; she finished with hits in all three of her at-bats, three RBIs and two walks.

On Sunday, Wichita scrambled to salvage a win in the final game of the series 5-4.

At the beginning of the sixth inning, SIU held a 4-3 lead over Wichita State and looked to be in line for a sweep over the number one team in the MVC, but the Shockers had other plans.

Wichita started the bottom of the sixth off with back-to-back hits, then freshman Macklin Hitz doubled to score both runners to take the lead and what would prove to be the victory over the Dawgs.

With the wins against Wichita, the Salukis improved to 27-21 with three games left to play.  The Salukis host Indiana State University to a three-game series starting with a doubleheader May 3.

Tony McDaniel can be reached at [email protected], @tonymcdanielDE or at 536-3311 ext. 282