Box Score CHARLESTON, Ill. - After a 21-hour weather delay, Jacksonville State edged SIUE 2-0 in nine innings at the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Championships.
The Cougars, 35-12, will move to consolation bracket and play UT Martin in an elimination game. SIUE's next action is Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The OVC Tournament had its tournament interrupted first by lightning Thursday. After two innings and 30 minutes of play, the Cougars and the Gamecocks, 28-25, were told to leave the field because of lightning strikes in the area around Eastern Illinois' Williams Field.
After the lightning, rains pelted the field with multiple fronts making play difficult if not impossible. OVC officials moved the completion of the game to Friday morning.
The two teams came back and played seven more innings without an earned run.
SIUE hurler Erin Greenwalt, 11-5, struck out nine batters, two short of her season high. She took her second loss in an extra-inning game this season with the other being a 1-0 no-hitter in eight innings against Detroit.
"She threw very, very well," said SIUE Head Coach Sandy Montgomery. "She is competitive and is going to give us a chance to win every time she goes out there."
Tiffany Harbin struck out 14 SIUE batters for her sixth shutout of the season.
"You have to give Harbin credit. She threw an outstanding game," Montgomery said.
"We had opportunities. We hit several balls hard right at people. We just couldn't get everything to fall. Unfortunately, they made every play. That's what tournament time is about."
SIUE and Jacksonville State each finished with five hits. Samantha Stanicek led the Cougars with two followed by one each from Alex McDavid, Brittany Toney, and Jordan LaFave.
The Gamecocks scored the game's only runs in the top of the ninth. Sara Borders legged out an infield hit with two outs. Savannah Sloan then hit a flare down the right field line. SIUE's Taylor Tooley had the fly ball go just off her glove as Borders raced home. Kelci Johnston added a double to the gap in left center that scored Sloan.
