Saluki softball gets offensive boost from freshman

By Tony McDaniel

Saluki softball has gotten an offensive boost from an unsuspected source.

Freshman Shaye Harre started the season off on a roll. Harre ranks in the top five players on the team in RBIs, hits, total bases and slugging percentage to name just a few of the 10 offensive categories Harre finds herself in, 14 games into the season.

However, that’s not all Harre does to help her team.

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Harre is working double duty for the Dawgs and has pitched in seven games this season, starting in two and entering in relief for another five games.

Coach Kerri Blaylock said she is pleased with the boost the Salukis are getting from the freshman.

“She’s got tremendous power, she can hit for average, she’s a very, very, good defensive player and she can pitch,” Blaylock said. “She’s just a well rounded athlete.”

In the last game for the Salukis, Harre had, statistically, her best game of the season. Harre was the starting pitcher for the game against Miami University and allowed no hits, but gave up two runs off of three walks on the mound. Harre’s biggest accomplishments in Sunday’s game came at the plate.

In the fourth inning, Harre gave herself run support when she stepped up to the plate with two runners on base and a one-run lead. Harre crushed a pitch that carried all the way over the right-field bleachers for her first career home run, a 3-run bomb that gave the Salukis a 4-0 lead.

Harre said the home run came at an opportune time for her.

“It was pretty great, I had gone quite a few at-bats where I wasn’t able to make solid contact or get on base at all,” Harre said. “So that was a good way to come out of a little slump there.”

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Harre would go on to get another RBI in the seventh inning to make her 2-4 with four RBI’s in the game.

Blaylock said Harre’s stellar offensive output early in the season comes at no surprise to her because of the type of player Harre was in her time before she came to SIU.

Harre went to Nashville Community High School where she played three sports, basketball, softball and volleyball.

As a softball player for the Hornettes, Harre hit .520 for her career with 182 RBIs in just three seasons. In Harre’s junior year, she helped her softball team win a state championship. One year later, she won her second state title, this time in basketball.

“It was a neat experience. Not many people can say they came out of high school with two state championship rings,” Harre said. “It’s definitely an honor to be able to say that I was a part of that.”

One thing Harre’s hometown of Nashville has in common with Carbondale is an abundance of school spirit, which is something Harre said was a deciding factor for her when she picked SIU to play softball and get her degree.

“Coming from a small town that was focused on sports gave us such a good community to come together and be our support group,” Harre said. “That’s one of the reasons I chose SIU, because it is that same type of atmosphere to play in.”

Harre played first base more than pitcher last year for the Hornettes, but still posted a 10-1 record with a 2.18 ERA.

This season, Harre struggled in her first two starts giving up six runs in just 2.2 innings. Harre has since calmed down on the mound. Harre has appeared in five games since then, allowing nine runs over 14.2 innings to bring her ERA down to 4.85.

Blaylock said Harre’s pitching could be just a good as her hitting.

“She’s got really good movement, really good spin on the ball and she throws well to locations,” Blaylock said. “I think she’s going to get better and better the more time she spends doing it.”

Harre will hope to continue to her strong start to the season with the rest of the Saluki softball team this weekend at the Under Armour Classic in Clearwater, Florida.

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