 | Softball |
SIUE Softball SIUE Athletics | |
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 Nicole Beecher Boxscore |
May 8, 2008 Cougars Win NCAA Opener EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville gave an extra inning of work and won its NCAA Division II Softball Tournament opener Thursday. Playing nearly 24 hours after it was originally scheduled due to heavy rains on its home field, SIUE defeated West Virginia State 6-5 in eight innings to advance in the winner's bracket of the Great Lakes Regional Championship. Nicole Beecher delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning as the No. 7-ranked Cougars improved their record to 46-9. SIUE won its 19th consecutive game and next faces Wayne State in a winner's bracket game at 1 p.m. Friday. With a soggy field and misty skies, SIUE jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning when Lindsay Longfellow singled and later scored on an infield error. It was the first of three errors for West Virginia State. The Yellow Jackets, 41-15, took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third with RBI hits from Margaret Osborne and Bobbi Harper. SIUE tied it up in the bottom half of the third on RBI hits by Kaeleigh Rousey and Mallory Ruggles. The game remained tied until the seventh when center fielder Casey Jo Crawford drove in pinch runner Kaetlin Thomas with a one-out single. SIUE sent the game into extra innings when Longfellow singled home pinch runner Carly Wildenradt. West Virginia scored once more in the top of the seventh off SIUE hurler Kaitlin Colosimo. The Cougar junior, who was named the Great Lakes Region's Pitcher of the Year, struck out 11 in the eight-inning game. Down by one, SIUE loaded the bases in the eighth, leading up to Beecher's single to the gap in left. Lauren Zembruski and Courtney Mall scored as the Cougars collected the victory. -siue- |