Feb. 25, 2011

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville softball opened the Red and Black Tournament at the University of Louisville Friday with a pair of losses.

Boston University shutout SIUE 4-0 in the opener, before the Cougars fell to host-Louisville, 10-0 in five innings, in the day's second game.

"We weren't ready to play today," SIUE Head Coach Sandy Montgomery said. "We let a couple of games slip away today. With our talent level, I thought we could compete."

The Cougars, 3-8, managed just three hits against Boston University right-hander Holli Floetker.

BU, 1-0, took an early lead on SIUE's Erika Taylor. Terriers' outfielder Jayme Mask led off the game with an infield hit to short. April Setterlund then connected for a one-out double off the left field wall to drive home Mask and put BU up 1-0.

Mask finished the game 3 for 4 with a pair of runs scored.

The Terriers made it 2-0 with a run in the fourth before capitalizing on an SIUE error in the fifth to score twice more.

Chelsea Yankolovich, Whitney Davis and Kasey Schlafke each had a hit for SIUE. Megan Murphy walked with one out in the third inning ahead of Yankolovich's hit, and the Cougars had runners are second and third with one out. They failed to move the runners. "We just didn't control the plate today," Montgomery said. "We didn't have good pitch selection."

Taylor allowed four runs, two earned, in the complete-game loss. She walked two and struck out five.

"I thought Erica pitched pretty well today," Montgomery said of her junior right-hander. "Like other times, it was just a few pitches here and there that hurt her."

In the second game, the Cougar bats we stymied by Louisville left-hander Tori Collins. Collins, a first team All-Big East selection last season, allowed a single hit over the five innings and struck out eight.

Meanwhile the Cardinals offense was firing on all cylinders, scoring 10 times on 11 hits over five innings. The Cardinals scored five times in the second inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by outfielder Jordan Trimble.

SIUE starter Lindsey Coleman, 1-1, was touched up for seven earned runs on seven hits over 2.1 innings.

"Lindsey was up in the strike zone and wasn't working ahead in the count," Montgomery said. "When you're up is when you get hurt."

Montgomery said there isn't much room for error with the Cougars. "We have to play up to our capabilities to win games," she said. "We didn't do that today."

SIUE continues play in the Red and Black tournament Saturday and Sunday. The Cougars match up with Miami (Ohio) Saturday afternoon. First pitch is 3 p.m. CT.