Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Missouri State softball team (20-24, 10-15 MVC) struggled as Southern Illinois' timely hitting carried the Salukis(29-22, 16-8 MVC) to two conference wins at Charlotte West Stadium, Saturday afternoon.
 
Game 1
Southern Illinois 5, Missouri State 0
 
Missouri State's bats struggled in game one as the Bears were out-hit by the Salukis, 10-to-five, in the 5-0 loss.
 
Beginning with a scoreless first inning, MSU starter Kaitlin Beason (12-11) kept Southern Illinois off the board until the bottom of the second when freshman Katelyn Massa belted her first dinger of the day to give SIU a one-run lead.
 
The Salukis put up four more runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to three hits and another Massa solo homer, giving SIU a 5-0 lead with three innings remaining.
 
Relieving Beason in the fifth, freshman pitcher Erin Griesbauer took control the remainder of the game, limiting the third-place Salukis to just one hit.
 
The Bears tried to battle back in the top of the sixth after junior Hailee Vigneaux ripped a one-out single up the middle. Fellow-junior Erika Velasquez Zimmer followed up with a single of her own, tallying Missouri State's fifth hit of the day.
 
Despite the back-to-back singles, a pair of fly outs ended the MSU comeback as SIU's Brianna Jones held the Bears scoreless through seven innings. Beason took the loss for the Bears after tossing four complete innings.
 
Game 2
Southern Illinois 10, Missouri State 2
 
Scoring first in its 29th game of the season, Missouri State jumped on the board early in the second inning after Kaitlin Beason led off the top of the frame with a walk. Back-to-back singles from Darian Frost and Elena Gambill put even more pressure on the Saluki defense, loading the bases with no outs.
 
Garnering her second sacrifice fly of the season, senior Mary Stephens brought in the Bears' first run after sending the ball into deep center field. The next at-bat, a Madison Jones ground out to second base gave pinch runner Darby Joerling just enough time to make the trip home, giving the Bears an early 2-0 lead.
 
Southern Illinois took advantage of two Bear errors in the bottom of the frame, scoring three runs off MSU starter Holly Kelley (9-11) to take its first and final lead of the game.
 
Tallying three strikeouts on the day, Kelley kept the Salukis from scoring for two more innings before SIU put up two more runs off back-to-back errors in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Making her second appearance of the day, Griesbauer relieved Kelley with two outs to go in the inning and surrendered a three-run homer that gave SIU a commanding 8-2 lead. An inning later, SIU plated two more runs off Griesbauer to complete the run rule, 10-2. Surrendering just one earned, run Kelley took the loss for the Bears after tossing 4.1 innings.
 
Coming Up Next
The Missouri State softball team rounds out the regular season tomorrow with its series finale against Southern Illinois. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Charlotte West Stadium and the matchup will be streamed on The Valley on ESPN3. For more information on the Missouri State softball team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MSUSoftball on Twitter.