Softball Tops #16 Fresno State, 2-0, in NCAA Tournament

Thursday, May 20

Palo Alto, Calif.

12:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

43-15

Fresno St.

47-19

Southern Illinois

Fresno State

05/20/2004 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score

May 20, 2004

Box Score

PALO ALTO, Calif. - For the second straight year, #6 seed Southern Illinois (43-15) opened NCAA Tournament play with an upset of the #3 seed, as the Salukis shocked #16 Fresno State 2-0 on Thursday at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium in Palo Alto,Calif., hosted by Stanford University.

SIU's win in the NCAA Region VII Tournament's first game of the day set a new school record of 43, breaking the mark of 42 by the 1991 squad (42-7). The Salukis will play Hofstra in the winner's bracket on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CST. Hofstra upset Auburn 1-0 in nine innings.

"This was a huge win.I think this is one of the best wins our programs 's ever had," an ecstatic Kerri Blaylock, SIU head coach said."When you beat a legend like Margie Wright (FSU head coach)it 's awesome. Our kids just amaze me. That 's all I can say.We had great performances by Haley (Viefhaus),Amy (Harre),Samantha (Carter) and Jenny (Doehring),plus everyone else played well."

SIU junior pitcher Amy Harre was amazing,throwing a four-hit shutout without a walk to win her third career NCAA Tournament game.Harre struck out six and retired the first 17 batters before she allowed two hits in the sixth inning.Of the four hits she allowed,only one ball left the infield in a dominating performance.

"Getting a shutout was nice,but what 's really important was getting the win. We just have to keep working hard and we'll see what we can do in this tournament.I 'm just glad we won the first game," said Harre.

The Salukis jumped out to 1-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back,which was key in the win. Haley Viefhaus walked to open the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice by Maria Damico. Amanda Clifton walked and Adie Viefhaus was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Lauren Roney 's RBI single drove in Haley Viefhaus, for a 1-0 lead, and what would be the winning run.

"Even in the first inning we were attacking them,we walked and pushed them early.I can tell when we do things early,we 're going to compete and go after them.Lauren 's hit was huge for our team," added Blaylock.

The Salukis added an insurance run in the sixth inning on a leadoff double by Jenny Doehring,a Katie Jordan sacrifice and a Haley Viefhaus RBI single,giving SIU a 2-0 advantage.

Fresno State threatened in the sixth and seventh inning with two runners on each frame,but Harre forced two-out ground balls each time to end the innings.

FSU 's Jaime Southern (29-6),leading the nation in ERA before the game,allowed six hits,two runs and three walks with four strikeouts in the loss.

"It 's very important to win the first game and stay in the winner 's bracket.You get to rest your pitchers and we can sleep in and take it easy tonight and get ready for tomorrow," stated Blaylock.