TEMPE, Ariz. – Kayla Riggs delivered the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the SIUE softball team to a 3-2 victory over Big Ten foe Michigan State Friday afternoon at the Arizona State Littlewood Classic.

"This was a good win for us," Head Coach Sandy Montgomery said.  "We tried to really prepare for this game because of how important it was.  Our kids were very focused, and they executed at the end of the game."

Riggs laid down an RBI squeeze bunt with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, scoring Allison Smiley from third base and giving the Cougars (1-4) the win.

Pitcher Haley Chambers turned in a stellar performance in the circle for SIUE, throwing a complete game that included 12 strikeouts and just one walk.  She limited the Spartans to two runs, one earned, on four hits.

"This was a good opening to the weekend," Chambers said.  "We all came together and we hit the ball well.  We kept our composure and got through it as a team."

The Cougars fell behind by a run in both the sixth and seventh innings, but had an answer for Michigan State in both instances.

In the sixth inning, Alex McDavid delivered an RBI groundout to plate Chelsea Yankolovich after MSU had taken a 1-0 lead a half inning earlier.

In the bottom of the seventh, Rebecca Gray produced a game-tying sacrifice fly to score Kelsey Hansen and send the game into extra innings at 2-2.

"We were able to answer (Michigan State)," Montgomery said.  "We got some production and kids stepped up.  We had to go up there and take some aggressive cuts and we did that today."

The Cougars will now prepare for three straight games against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally.  SIUE faces No. 5 Arizona State at 9:15 p.m. CT Friday night before taking on No. 7 Oklahoma Saturday at 12:15 p.m. along with No. 3 Washington at 7 p.m.

"It's going to be an enormous challenge," Montgomery added.  "The kids are excited to play against that level of competition, and it's very good for us and for our conference.  We're going to give it a go and see what happens."