CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Missouri State softball team tied up the game in the fifth inning, but a Southern Illinois walk-off double spoiled the Bears' comeback as they fell to the Salukis, 3-2, Sunday afternoon at Charlotte West Stadium.
 
"I was extremely proud of our determination today," head coach Holly Hesse said. "I thought that our determination and our process was excellent all day. We hit the ball well, our pitching was awesome and we look like a team that is ready to compete in the tournament."
 
After MSU starter Kaitlin Beason tossed two scoreless innings, the Salukis took advantage of the long ball in the bottom of the third as SIU's Sydney Jones belted a two-run homer that bounced off of the fair side of the left-field foul pole.
 
Missouri State came charging back when Mary Stephens led off the top of the fourth with a single into deep left-center field. Ripping her fourth triple of the season, junior Madison Jones smoked a ball down the right-field line that brought around the Bears' first run of the game.
 
The Bears continued their efforts in the fifth inning as senior Bethany Sullinger led off the top of the frame with a single into center field. The next at-bat, Beason crushed a stand-up double through the left-center gap, bringing around Sullinger to tie up the game, 2-2.
 
Taking over in the bottom of the fourth, junior pitcher Holly Kelley (9-12) held the Salukis scoreless for three innings until SIU's Eyrika Brandenburg knocked in the game-winning run on a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh.

Bouncing back from yesterday, the Missouri State offense out-hit the Salukis 9-7 as Beason lead the way with three hits and one RBI. Jones was credited with the Bears second RBI while she racked up multiple hits as well.
 
Kelley took the loss, tossing a total of 3.2 innings and striking out one. With the loss, the Bears fall to 22-25 on the season and 10-16 in the league.
 
"It's a new season," Hesse explained. "We did enough good things to get us to the tournament so now we will focus on that. We have to be the team that we were in the first half of the conference. I saw a lot of that today, so it is very encouraging.
 
"Our pitching has to be solid, we have to crush it on defense and we have to be able to score runs. Some people who have been struggling at the plate lately have started swinging the bat well again and I think we're ready to put it all together."
 
Coming Up Next
Wednesday, May 10, Missouri State will travel Normal, Ill., for the start of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Held at the campus of Illinois State, the tournament is set to begin on Thursday, May 11 at 11 a.m. The conference championship will feature the league's top eight teams and will conclude on Sunday, May 13 at Marian Kneer Stadium. For more information on the Missouri State softball team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MSUSoftball on Twitter.