NORMAL, Ill. – Missouri State jumped on the board first, but a six-run second inning for Southern Illinois proved to be too much as the Bears fell 9-3 to the No. 3 Salukis in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Marian Kneer Stadium, Friday afternoon.
“Our players gave great effort throughout the whole season,” head coach Holly Hesse said. “We had a lot of great moments and some great wins. I’m really proud of the work that they put into this season.”
Scoring first for the 30th time this season, Missouri State got the ball rolling early as Hailee Vigneaux recorded a leadoff double to begin game four of the MVC Tournament. After a ground out moved the junior over to third, senior Bethany Sullinger motored down the line and beat out a throw from the Saluki shortstop for an infield single – scoring Vigneaux and giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
MSU continued to put pressure on the Salukis throughout the second inning as Madison Jones took a pitch to the forearm, resulting in a free trip to first base. Following a Mary Stephens single that moved Jones over to scoring position, Vigneaux picked up her 11th RBI of the season on a single into left-center field to put the Bears up 2-0.
Southern Illinois responded in the bottom of the frame, taking advantage of a sacrifice fly, three hits and three walks off of MSU starter Holly Kelley to take a 5-2 lead. With one out in left to go in the inning, fellow junior Kaitlin Beason stepped in to take over the circle where the Salukis tallied one more hit and run to take a 6-2 advantage. SIU’s Shaye Harre furthered the lead with a two run homer over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the fifth.
The Bears scratched across a run in the top of the sixth as Madison Jones grounded out to score Darian Frost, who reached base on a fielder’s choice, cutting the Salukis’ lead to 8-3.
Southern Illinois would go on to score one more run as Kelley (10-13) took the 9-3 loss.
Kelley was the lone Bear to represent Missouri State on the 2017 MVC Championship All-Tournament team. The Bears finished the 2017 season with a 23-26 overall record, 10-16 mark in MVC play and went 1-1 in the 2017 MVC Tournament.
