Cougars Earn No. 2 Seed for OVC Softball Championships
SIUE softball will be the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Championships after a Sunday sweep over UT Martin.
The Cougars improved to 29-20 overall and 19-6 in the OVC after a 4-0 win in game one and a 6-5 victory in 11 innings in the nightcap. UT Martin, which is the No. 8 seed for the OVC Championships, fell to 16-30 and 8-17 in the OVC.
SIUE's Emma Henderson provided the heroics in both games. She tossed a three-hit shutout in game one and then singled home the game winner in game two. That RBI gave her 44 for the season, the most by a Cougar in a season during the Division I era.
SIUE will have a double bye in the league championships, which start Wednesday in Peoria, Illinois. The Cougars' first game will not be until 10 a.m. Thursday and will await four games before finding out its first-round opponent.
After cancelling the first game of the series Saturday due to overwhelming rain, Sunday's doubleheader was the final home game for seniors Anna Henderson, Emma Henderson, Madison Kearns, Piper Montgomery, Kaylynn Salyars, Danielle Shuey and Lauryn Yslava.
In game one, Emma Henderson struck out six for her sixth win of the season. Anna Henderson's RBI single in the first inning is all that was needed. SIUE collected seven hits overall, including two from Juztyne Torres who had a bunt for an RBI in the fourth inning.
In game two, both teams scored five runs in the first five innings capped off by a solo home run in the fifth by Anna Henderson.
The bullpens for both teams took over. McKayla Anderson went seven innings for SIUE and threw 103 pitches for the Cougars in relief. Natalie Krueziger tossed 6 2/3 innings and 110 pitches in relief before suffering the loss.
In the bottom of the 11th, Harley Limberger drew a one-out, pinch-hit walk. Shuey added a quick bunt single. After Salyars flew out and advanced both runners, Emma Henderson laced a ball to the left side of the infield just out of the complete reach of UT Martin shortstop Kyrsten Brown, allowing Limberger to score the game winner.
Photo: Piper Montgomery, Kaylynn Salyars, Madison Kearns, Anna Henderson, Emma Henderson, Lauryn Yslava, Danielle Shuey
