April 14, 2010
Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The No. 11 Missouri softball team picked up their 30th win of the season with an impressive 9-2 win over the Salukis of SIU on Wednesday. The win improves Mizzou's record to 30-8 on the season, and marks the fourth time in as many years that the team has won at least 30 games under the guidance of head coach Ehren Earleywine. Missouri has also won at least 30 games in 20 of their last 23 seasons dating back to 1988.
Freshman Nicole Hudson went 2-for-3 on the game with a home run and four RBI. The home run was her fifth of the season, tying her with junior Marla Schweisberger and sophomore Ashley Fleming for the team lead.
Sophomore Kristin Nottelmann pitched 3.1 innings out of the pen to earn her 10th victory of the season, giving her back-to-back seasons with at least 10 victories. Nottelmann allowed just one hit and struck out three while allowing no walks and no runs. Senior Jana Hainey got the start, going 3.2 innings and giving up two runs, one earned, on three hits. The lefty also struck out three batters, including two in the first.
Southern Illinois took the early lead with a solo home run in the first inning, but it was almost all Tigers after that.
Missouri got on the board with a four-run third, with all the runs coming with two outs. Junior Lisa Simmons led off the frame with a walk, and stole second base with one out. After a ground out for the second out of the inning, the Tiger offense got rolling. Junior Catherine Lee roped a single into left field, and an error by the left fielder allowed Simmons to come around to score. Lee moved to second on freshman Jenna Marston's single, and scored on a single by Fleming. The two runners moved up one base each on a passed ball, and a walk to freshman Lindsey Muller loaded the bases. From there, Hudson delivered her first two RBI of the game on a single back up the middle to put Missouri up by a 4-1 score.
In the fourth, a one-out double by senior Gina Schneider followed by an RBI triple by junior Rhea Taylor extended the Missouri lead. The triple was the ninth of Taylor's career and second of the season. Lee's second hit of the game scored Taylor to put Mizzou up 6-1. Lee finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored and now has six hits in her last three games.
The Salukis got one back in the fifth when a two-out error allowed the first base runner of the inning. Back-to-back singles followed, with brought home an SIU run, cutting the lead to 6-2.
That would be the last time SIU would score however, and the Tigers would tack on three more in the next two innings.
Following a leadoff walk to Muller, Hudson delivered a 3-2 pitch deep over the right-center field wall to put the Tigers up 8-2. Missouri added one more in the top of the sixth off a home run by junior Megan Christopher. During the at-bat, Christopher had asked for a time out but it was not granted by the umpire. She then took that very pitch she called time on and crushed it off the left field foul pole for a solo home run, her second long ball of the season.
The Tigers return home to continue Big 12 play this weekend when they welcome the Texas Tech Red Raiders to town for a two-game set. The series will also kick off a six-game home stand, the longest remaining stand of the year for Missouri. Game one on Saturday gets started at 2 p.m. CT, while game two will take begin at Noon CT on Sunday.