May 13, 2016 Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Missouri State softball team (22-30) scrapped back from a four-run deficit to make it a game late, but fell to host Southern Illinois (33-18) in the quarterfinals of the MVC Softball Championship, 4-3, at Charlotte West Stadium in Carbondale, Ill., on Friday.
Sophomore Hailee Vigneaux had two hits in the game. She drove in a run and scored another. Junior Olivia Roark added a pair of hits for the Bears and sophomore Erika Velasquez Zimmer drove in a run and scored in a 1-for-3 performance.
Junior pitcher Erin Struemph pitched 3.0 innings of scoreless relief to keep MSU within a run. She struck out two wrapping up her third season with 474 career strikeouts, fifth-most in school history.
"We played hard and played well and that's what we came here to do," said head coach Holly Hesse. "I was really proud of the effort of this team today. Lots of people had good tournaments for us."
Missouri State got its first two batters of the game aboard as SIU committed two errors on two plays. A sacrifice bunt by Erin Duewel moved both runners into scoring position, but the Salukis worked out of trouble.
SIU took the momentum and scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the inning. In the second, the Salukis put together a three-run two-out rally to put the Bears in a 4-0 hole.
The Bears got a leadoff single from Elena Gambill in the fourth. She moved into scoring position on a groundout. Vigneaux singled to right-center with two down, her second hit of the game, to drive in the first run of the game for MSU. After Vigneaux stole second, Velasquez Zimmer continued the rally with an RBI single up the middle. Velasquez Zimmer stole second and scored on Olivia Roark's single to left to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Sophomore Kaitlin Beason drew a walk to begin the sixth inning. Pinch runner Kyana Mason stole second, but the Salukis stopped the Bears offense from that point forward.
Missouri State ends the 2016 campaign with a league-best .973 fielding percentage, the third-highest in school history. Duewel completes her career with 22 home runs, the second-most in the history of the program.
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