April 26, 2011

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Erika Taylor threw her seventh shutout of the season Tuesday as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Saint Louis University battled to a doubleheader split at Cougar Field.

Taylor lifted the softball Cougars as she struck out 10 batters. The senior right-hander has not allowed an earned run for 21 straight innings after a 3-0 victory in game one of the doubleheader. Saint Louis turned around for a 10-2 victory in six innings in the nightcap.

SIUE, 25-24, now heads to Columbia, Mo., for a single game against nationally-ranked Missouri. The Cougars face a Missouri squad that is 38-6 and ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation. Game time is 3 p.m.

On Tuesday, it was the seventh time Taylor has garnered 10 or more strikeouts this season. She now has 691 career strikeouts and needs nine more to become the second player in school history with 700 or more strikeouts with Kaitlin Colosimo (715).

Kasey Schlafke provided two RBIs with two doubles in the opening game with one in the first inning and a second in the third inning. SIUE scored twice in the first inning to get all the runs it would need.

Schlafke collected three hits in game one, which was the first time she had finished with more than two hits in a game this season. Chelsea Yankolovich also had three hits as the Cougars outhit SLU 9-3. Yankolovich had set the tone in the first inning with a leadoff double off the fence to start the Cougar offense.

Saint Louis, 27-22, turned on the offense in game two, hitting SIUE starter Lindsey Coleman and reliever Ali Downing for 16 hits.

"We did not match up well, and we did not make adjustments. We have to stop giving up big-run innings," said SIUE Head Coach Sandy Montgomery.

Alyson Brand's two-run homer in the third inning put SLU ahead 3-0. Kerri Dockins would lead the Billikens overall with four hits. Four other SLU players also had two hits each.

The Cougars scored single tallies in the third and fifth inning. Taylor Tooley singled home Lindsey Barron for SIUE's first run. Rachel Coonrod kept the Cougars going in the fifth with an RBI double that scored Yankolovich.

Hannah Huebbe earned the victory for the Billikens and improved her season mark to 13-6.

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