The No. 16-ranked Southern Illinois University Edwardsville softball team reached the 20-win mark on Wednesday, sweeping Missouri-Rolla 9-3 and 8-0 in five innings.
         The Cougars, 20-8, next begins Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Saturday with a doubleheader at Bellarmine. Game time is set for noon in Louisville, Ky.
         SIUE didn't let a mid-game rain shower affect its play on Wednesday against the Miners, which fell to 19-13. The Cougars picked up home runs in game one from Ashley Price and Alicia DeShasier off a Missouri-Rolla team which will compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference next season.
         The Cougars' big inning in the opener came in the third with five runs off UM-Rolla pitcher Candice Wilburn. The Cougars used four singles and two walks to take an early 6-0 lead.
         Price rocked a solo shot to left field in the fifth. DeShaiser, who also was the winning pitcher, blasted her team-leading fifth home run of the season in the sixth.
         Two of the Miners' three runs were unearned as DeShasier allowed just two hits in improve her record to 9-4.
         In the nightcap, SIUE's Lindsey Laas scattered five hits in a five-inning game shortened due to the eight-run rule. SIUE collected 10 hits off UM-Rolla, including a bases-loaded triple by Sam Easterley. The senior right fielder had five RBIs for the day.
                  -siue cougars-